Wisconsin’s economy has created a lot of new jobs in recent years — but not without a little help from our friend in the White House.
For more than two years, President Donald Trump has implemented policies that have allowed us to unleash our economic potential and restore the jobs that were lost under President Barack Obama.
His efforts have not gone unnoticed. According to a recent report from the Wall Street Journal, Trump currently maintains a cumulative six-point lead over a generic Democrat opponent in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio.
The people of Wisconsin haven’t forgotten how bad things were before Trump took office, and we can clearly see how much better they are now.
Aided by the Trump administration’s economic policies, which include tax cuts for the middle class, deregulation, and protective tariffs, Wisconsin’s unemployment rate has hovered around three percent for more than a year — a full percentage point below the national unemployment rate.
This newfound prosperity has gone hand-in-hand with a remarkable resurgence of Midwestern manufacturing — an ongoing comeback story brought about in large part by a trade policy that put the interests of American workers first.
The president even brought his vaunted negotiating skills to bear to ensure that Wisconsin didn’t get left out of the nationwide economic recovery — when Taiwanese company Foxconn began reconsidering its plans to open a factory in Wisconsin, Trump personally convinced Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou to recommit to building the plant in the state.
“After productive discussions, between the White House and the company … Foxconn is moving forward with our planned construction of a [Generation] 6 fab facility, which will be at the heart of the Wisconn Valley Science and Technology Park,” Foxconn announced at the time.
Of course, just as Washington can contribute to Wisconsin’s economic boom with sound policy, it can also stifle our prosperity with job-killing taxes and regulations.
In recent weeks, leading Democrat presidential candidates, including Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, have embraced the radical Green New Deal despite its estimated $93 trillion price tag and vision of a massive government takeover of the economy.
This so-called “green dream,” which seeks to close down every coal powered plant in America, would ravage the still-recovering economies of the Midwest, which depend heavily on manufacturing and fossil fuels. The enormous tax increases that would be needed to fund the Green New Deal, meanwhile, would suck much-needed capital out of Wisconsin’s economy and funnel it through Washington to pay for expensive projects of dubious value, such as high-speed rail.
Americans are wisely skeptical about such neo-socialist policy proposals which threaten our hard-earned prosperity in pursuit of politically divisive ends.
Unlike his political opponents, Trump’s top priority has always been to create jobs in Wisconsin and across the country. That’s an agenda we can all support.
Kelly Ruh of De Pere is the 8th Congressional District chair for the Republican Party of Wisconsin.
