An astonishing 67 percent of acknowledge Democrat voters in a recent Rasmussen poll “still think (Barack) Obama is to thank” for the surging economy, while 82 percent of those who said they are Republicans give credit to President Donald Trump.
According to Fact Check.org, those Democrats may have a point. It depends upon whether one believes Fact Check figures. The website says that under Obama, “the economy gained a net 11.6 million jobs” and “unemployment…dropped to below the historical norm.”
But according to the Rasmussen survey, 50 percent of likely voters “now believe the improving economy is due more to Trump than Obama, while 40% think it is more the result of the policies Obama put in place before he left office.”
Rasmussen reported that “credit to Trump has been on the rise since October 2017.” That’s when voters were divided equally over who was responsible for the improving economy.
Buried in the Fact Check report is some bad news for the gun control crowd, which thought Obama’s gun control policies were correct. Fact Check noted that “production of handguns rose 192 percent, to a record level” under Obama.
During that same period, the murder rate dropped to the lowest on record in 2014. However, from then forward, the murder rate went back up again “and finished at about the same rate as when Obama took office.”
Contrary to claims from the gun prohibition lobby, more guns do not result in more crime, it would appear.
In Tuesday’s Seattle P-I.com, an Associated Press economics reporter asserted, “President Donald Trump is grossly overstating the extent of U.S. economic and job gains.”
That story also said, “Growth reached 4 percent at an annual rate in the second quarter, which Trump highlighted late last month with remarks at the White House. But it’s only the best in the past four years. So far, the economy is expanding at a modest rate compared with previous economic expansions. In the late 1990s, growth topped 4 percent for four straight years, from 1997 through 2000. And in the 1980s expansion, growth even reached 7.2 percent in 1984.”
The SeattleP-I.com story also argued that the president is “off the mark” when he talked about the employment picture.
“The unemployment rate of 3.9 percent is not at the best point ever — it is actually near the lowest in 18 years,” the story said. “The all-time low came in 1953, when unemployment fell to 2.5 percent during the Korean War. And while economists have been surprised to see employers add 215,000 jobs a month this year, a healthy increase, employers in fact added jobs at a faster pace in 2014 and 2015. A greater percentage of Americans held jobs in 2000 than now.”
But wait a minute. The story alluded to the economy during periods long before Obama was in office. The story was more aimed at refuting Trump’s claims that he is presiding over the best economy ever.
There was one other revelation in the Rasmussen poll, and it has a direct connection to the upcoming midterm elections. If Democrats take control of the House, or all of Capitol Hill, they will almost certainly immediately move to impeach the president.
According to Rasmussen, “Among all voters…47% think the impeachment and removal of Trump from office would be bad for the economy. Just 27% think it would be good for the economy, while 15% think impeaching Trump would have no economic impact. Another 11%, though, are not sure.”
