by Judson Phillips
We need to remind everyone, “It’s the economy, stupid”
In 1992, James Carvell hung a slogan in the Clinton for President war room and it simply said, “It’s the economy, stupid.”
Sixty days ago, no one could have imagined what the nation is going through. No one would have imagined the nation’s economy mostly shut down. No one would have imagined a majority of Americans forced from their jobs and working, or in some cases, not working from home.
President Trump has become a fixture on daily TV, reporting to America the status of the war against the Chinese coronavirus. Governors and mayors across the country are locking down their states. Ralph Northam, the governor of Virginia, has gone full dictator, locking down Virginia until June 10th.
The impact on the economy cannot be understated. Across the country restaurants and retail stores are closed. Some restaurants are allowed to offer carry out but businesses across the nation are closed.
The impact of this man-made economic disaster is piling up. At this point, estimates are that ten percent of restaurants will never reopen. Retail is not as hard hit but there are stores that will never reopen now. The longer this crisis goes on, the worse these numbers will become.
As stores close, employees are not being paid. Vendors and suppliers are not paid. Landlords are not paid. All of these businesses have their own expenses they have to cover. Some of them will also become casualties of the economic slowdown.
As America heads toward the 2020 election, the economy will ultimately become the most important issue. Most voters vote their wallet. And that is probably the only thing that could derail President Donald Trump’s reelection this fall.
The economy is sustaining more and more damage every day due to the shutdown. Goldman Sachs estimates that in the second quarter of this year, the Gross Domestic Product will shrink by an unprecedented thirty percent.
The bad news is once the crisis passes, the economy is not simply going to restart and immediately go back to where it was. Jobs will be lost, and new jobs will need to be created and this takes time.
This is why focusing on the economy is so crucial right now.
President Trump is facing a Democrat Party that is quite willing engage in policies and in political stunts that will harm America and Americans. They are willing to damage the economy if it means a Democrat victory this fall.
The economy has to be restarted and this restart has to begin immediately. We cannot keep the entire nation shut down for months. We have to start in areas that are not hard hit. We have to start with some innovative ways to operate businesses remotely. We have to eliminate regulations that slow businesses down. The administration has cut through red tape to allow companies to produce needed medical supplies. Now the administration needs to cut through red tape to allow businesses to quickly resume operations and put Americans back to work.
The Democrats firmly believe in the concept of never letting a crisis go to waste. They will not let the economic crisis go to waste.
This crisis has only been the opening act of the economic catastrophe we will see if a Democrat is elected President this fall.
We cannot wait. It’s the economy, stupid.
