05.22.18

Economic Optimism Continues Across America

‘A record-high percentage of American manufacturers have said they have a positive economic outlook for their enterprises. Rural communities outpaced everywhere else in relative job creation last year. The total amount spent on employee compensation grew faster in 2017 than in any calendar year under President Obama. This is what happens when Republicans implement a pro-growth, pro-opportunity agenda that gets Washington out of the way. Everyone shares in the prosperity.’

WASHINGTON, D.C.  U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the benefits Americans continue to see from the Republican pro-opportunity, pro-worker agenda:

“This week, survey data showed that more Americans say it’s a good time to find a quality job than at any point in the last 17 years. Under President Obama, this number got as low as eight percent. It never broke 50 percent during his administration. But today, 67 percent of Americans say it’s a good time to find a quality job. Optimism has taken off for all groups since this president was elected and this Republican Congress was sworn in.

“But the injection of new hope has been felt the most among working-class Americans. This is a major distinction between the economic policies that Democrats spent years putting in place and the new approach this Republican government has taken. For nearly a decade, Democrats followed the standard liberal playbook: Tax more, regulate more, and pile up more money and power in Washington D.C. They cracked down on American businesses, imposed one new regulation after another, and looked to the federal government to pick winners and losers.

“It’s a familiar, old set of ideas. Here’s what it produces: An economy that works very well for a few, but leaves many more behind. The Obama era was just fine for our nation’s biggest coastal cities. Roughly three quarters of all the new jobs created from 2010 to 2016 poured into the country’s largest metro areas. But outside those places, taxes and regulations created an anti-business climate that hurt American manufacturing, American coal communities, and small and medium-sized businesses throughout the country.

“So Republicans charted a new course. We understand that middle-class families know how to spend their own money better than the government. That American workers thrive when American job creators are expanding, hiring, and raising wages. So we passed once-in-a-generation tax relief for middle-class families and small businesses, and are working at every turn to roll back runaway regulations. The result is an economic comeback that’s reaching all kinds of communities, not just a favored few.

“A record-high percentage of American manufacturers have said they have a positive economic outlook for their enterprises. Rural communities outpaced everywhere else in relative job creation last year. The total amount spent on employee compensation grew faster in 2017 than in any calendar year under President Obama. This is what happens when Republicans implement a pro-growth, pro-opportunity agenda that gets Washington out of the way. Everyone shares in the prosperity.”

Related Issues: Tax Reform, Economy, Taxes, Middle Class