Letter to the editor: Economic truths about Obama, Trump

In response to the letter “Obama vs. Trump on national debt” (Feb. 27, TribLIVE): The Bible tell us that the truth will set you free.

While President Obama inherited a bad economy, the truth about the Obama “recovery” is that it had the lowest labor participation rate in years with a decline in business start-ups and investment, along with a significant spike in Americans on food stamps. All this was “accomplished” with an infusion of $825 billion of taxpayer money. “Shovel ready jobs” never materialized, and Obama told us that we would have to get used to less than 3% GDP.

Moreover, he mocked President Trump as having a magic wand in 2016, as overseas jobs were never returning to the U.S. He was wrong. For the first time in decades, manufacturers are returning to the U.S. The Trump recovery was accomplished with tax cuts, regulation elimination and private investment both in the United States and from overseas.

As Mark Twain said, there are damned lies and statistics, and I’m sure someone will attempt to counter these facts, but the point is that the Obama “recovery,” for whatever it was worth, was done with taxpayer money, and the Trump economy is all about capitalism. Some Democrats now openly endorse socialism while the country experiences record growth for all, including minorities and women, with more than 10 million people lifted off of food stamps.

The truth is a hard pill to swallow, and the voters this year will decide what prescription they prefer.

Richard Lafferty

Buffalo Township