EXORCISE THE OBAMACARE DEMONS
In 1980, the British band the Buggles declared that “Video Killed the Radio Star.” In 2018, one could say that the free market and a growing GDP is killing Obamacare. Outside of the Trump Tax Reform’s move to kill the Obamacare requirement that individuals must purchase health insurance, we are witnessing GDP growth and a tightening labor market that is slowly but surely making Obamacare irrelevant.
A statement that would earn a master of the obvious award from anyone that has actually run a business…When you reduce taxes and cut back on stifling regulations on U.S. business, both small and large it will inevitably lead to a much stronger economy and greater job opportunities.
For the first time since the Labor Department began taking records on this statistic in 2000, the number of available positions in the United States exceeded the number of job seekers. U.S. job openings rose to a seasonally adjusted 6.7 million at the end of April, a record high, and more than the 6.3 million Americans who were unemployed during the month. Job openings had exceeded the available labor pool beginning in March of this year according to revised figures released.
Also, we now have one of the biggest percentage-point drops in the unemployment rate in history. The only presidents with larger drops were Bill Clinton in 1993 and Jimmy Carter in 1977. Both of those presidents, though, ended their first years with much higher unemployment rates, both over 6 percent.
The United States has a record number of job openings and the unemployment rate is the lowest it has been since April 2000. If it falls any lower, Trump would be presiding over the lowest rate since 1969. Unemployment is at the lowest level for African Americans since the government started measuring it in 1972, and the gap between black and white unemployment rates is the narrowest ever. Hispanic unemployment is near an all-time low, as is unemployment for Americans who have high school diplomas but didn’t attend college.
All of this is much more than a happy, happy joy, joy statistic to be touted on the Sean Hannity Show. Our new reality is rippling across the economy and affecting the behavior of both employers and workers. Competition between employers inevitably leads to greater benefits for workers, as companies jostle with one another to fill these open positions. Benefits such as providing health care for workers are another option that employers have been utilizing to attract that much needed staff.
The current administrations drive to free us from those nasty Lilliputians from Washington D.C. have had an overwhelmingly positive impact so far. However, there is still quite a bit that needs to be done to completely extricate us from Obamacare and to start bending the cost curve down. Some recent developments on short-term plans is very encouraging in limiting some of the ridiculous mandates. (I am not planning on getting pregnant anytime soon nor I am planning to change my name to Christine and start shopping with Caitlyn Jenner, so why I am paying for that coverage??)
