COMMENTARY 2017 was a very good year
”Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning, but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.” – Hal Borland
By any account, other than that of the mainstream media and the left, 2017 was a very good year. This nation returned to economic growth and a positive business environment not seen during the business-killing years of the Obama administration. The unemployment rate is at a 17-year low. The stock market closed at new highs 87 times during the year. President Trump is well on his way to restoring our court system to one based on the Constitution and the rule of law with the appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court, along with 73 additional federal judges. Illegal immigration is down 50 percent. The president’s new tax plan is now a reality, and its impact is already being felt. The onerous Obamacare mandate has been repealed.
Yes, 2017 was a very good year.
By what other measure do we know it was a very good year?
Rather than examining the usual numbers and metrics, maybe the best way to judge that is through the eyes of real people in this area. Real people whose lives are affected by government policy.
There are many examples I could cite, but let’s look at two.
The first is a young family with two children who live in southern Washington County. The husband is an underground coal miner, and his wife is a stay-at-home mom raising their two small children.
He has an excellent job as a skilled-equipment operator, makes very good money and has excellent benefits.
At least he does when the mine is operating.
The Obama administration’s war on coal threatened to devastate the coal industry in this region, and with it, the lives of people like this couple.
“Before the 2016 election, our lives were on hold,” said the wife. “Hillary Clinton and the Democrats said they would regulate our industry out of existence, and with it, my husband’s job. We heard her say that. Obama was already doing it. We stopped spending money. We saved everything we could. We weren’t just worried about our immediate future, we were worried we had any future if Clinton got elected, and so were hundreds of our friends and neighbors.”
She continued, “That’s when I decided I had to stop just worrying and get involved. Along with other coal miner’s wives, coal miners and energy industry people, we organized a massive voter project to elect President Trump who promised to protect our industry and our jobs. President Trump has been delivering on his promises. Our family had a great 2017, my husband’s job is safer, he receives regular bonuses shared by his company, and a huge weight has been lifted from our shoulders.”
“The battle isn’t over and maybe never will be. Right now, we have a congressional election where the Democrats are running a young man with no experience who will very likely be exactly like (Nancy) Pelosi, Clinton and all the Democrats before him, trying to regulate our industry and jobs away. The Republicans are running (state Rep.) Rick Saccone, a man we know and trust as a friend of the coal industry and someone who will continue to support President Trump in protecting our jobs. Voting for Saccone is a pretty easy choice for coal miners.”
She concluded, “We hope 2018 is another great year like 2017.”
The second example is a couple who have lived in Peters Township for many years. The husband is a small-business owner whose company supplies sub-station and lifting equipment to industries in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. It has been a pretty successful business, employing a number of workers and sales people. Many of his customers were severely impacted by the recession of 2008. Times were very difficult. Recovery from the recession was very slow.
“My clients were hurt badly,” he said. “Some went bankrupt. Others were very hesitant to spend money in the anti-business environment under Obama. They certainly were not buying my products. My business was on the verge of bankruptcy several times. Many of my competitors disappeared. I had no employees, and I wasn’t getting a paycheck. I just kept pushing ahead as best I could.”
In the 2016 election, “you bet I voted for President Trump,” he said. “He understands business and promised to restore business in America. Thank God he won. He’s delivering on his promises. I’d hate to think where we’d be if we had to deal with Clinton. From the day he was elected, the attitude in business changed. Owners have hope again. My clients are looking ahead and talking about investing in their businesses. It wasn’t long before orders started coming in. My orders tripled. Business is excited. My customers are hiring because they are getting orders. My suppliers are hiring. I am hiring two more sales people and am looking at expansion this year.”
“By any measure, 2017 was a great year,” he concluded.
2017 was a great year as judged by those who really lived it. They matter. Not the media, not those who simply hate President Trump, not those in academic echo chambers.
Despite fighting the fiercest headwinds of any president in history, Trump is succeeding and, more importantly, the country is succeeding. The only way to derail this success would be to turn the reins of government back over to the proponents of the failed tax-and-regulate, anti-business Obama policies. The new year will see a number of important elections.
We must keep a positive business environment in Pennsylvania by replacing Gov. Tom Wolf and Sen. Bob Casey and electing Rick Saccone to Congress in the 18th district.
Let us take the wisdom that experience has instilled and “go on.”