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Bragger in chief strikes again

To the editor:

As a result of our nation’s jobs report for July 2017, which contained most encouraging, positive results, President Donald J. Trump, the master of self-aggrandizement and unquestioned “bragger in chief,” was quite exuberant in his self-praise on claiming responsibility for the most impressive job numbers, with more than 200,000 jobs created combined with the lowering of the unemployment rate to 4.3 percent, during the report period, while the stock market continues to reach unprecedented highs.

However, during the recent presidential campaign, then-candidate Trump was unwilling to accept such data when it was a reflection of the Obama administration, saying, “When you hear 4.9 percent and 5 percent unemployment, the number is probably 28 percent or 29 percent, as high as 35 percent. In fact, I even heard recently the actual unemployment rate is closer to 42 percent.”

Apparently, as he now serves as our chief executive, the actual numbers as reported by the nonpartisan Bureau of Labor Statistics are now to be seen as totally legitimate, as he relishes in taking the lion’s share of credit for the impressive economic figures.

I wonder what his response would have been if such figures would have been less than positive. Without question, Trump would be severely criticizing the source, questioning their accuracy and validity while labeling the entity as biased, blaming others and taking no personal responsibility, if such had been the case.

In reality, Trump actually inherited a quite robust and growing economy and is primarily reaping the benefits of President Obama’s policies to date. Whereas Obama inherited a struggling and declining economy from his predecessor, George Bush, with the economy losing more than 750,000 jobs per month and with an unemployment rate reaching an abysmal 10 percent, but, as a result of his policies, helped create 200,000-plus jobs per month on a regular basis, while lowering the rate of unemployment to 4.5 percent.

For the record, our economy during the Obama years actually was quite good, although some such as Trump and others demagogue otherwise, and Obama should be acknowledged for his work and leadership in getting us out of the great recession of the Bush years, as the rate of unemployment was, in reality, lower than at any time between 1971 and 1996, including the eight years of the Reagan presidency, which Trump has praised on numerous occasions as being a great success economically.

Also, although the stock market continues to reach unprecedented heights under Trump, please keep in mind that Obama assumed the presidency when the stock market was in grave decline, but literally more than doubled during his tenure in the White House, reaching unprecedented heights up to that time as well.

Richard Hord

Martins Ferry

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