President Trump rebooted the Ohio economy once before, and he’ll do it again once we overcome the coronavirus pandemic.
Although the COVID-19 outbreak has brought the entire world economy to a grinding halt, the U.S. is in a perfect position to recover once the devastating health crisis comes to pass — we simply have to stay on the course that brought us from economic stagnation to record-setting prosperity in three short years. Ohio has seen its fair share of daunting economic challenges in recent decades, but we managed to overcome them all under the leadership of Donald Trump. This will be no different.
It’s worth keeping in mind that the Buckeye State has come quite a long way since the 2016 election. Back then, our economy was still struggling to recover from one of the worst economic recessions of the 21st century after eight years of President Obama’s disastrous fiscal policies. On Election Day, Ohio’s unemployment rate was stuck at 5.2%, and the nation’s leaders were cautioning that things would never get any better than that.
President Trump, however, was confident that pro-growth policies such as broad-based tax cuts and smart deregulation would unleash the pent-up potential of the U.S. economy and generate unprecedented prosperity for all Americans.
He was right. The Blue Collar Boom that bloomed across America uplifted Ohio, creating millions of high-paying jobs and giving working families genuine hope for the first time in many years. By the beginning of 2020, Ohio’s unemployment rate had dropped to 4.1% on the strength of roughly 88,000 new nonfarm jobs, and the boom would have continued to this day if not for the coronavirus pandemic.
We’re not out of the woods yet when it comes to COVID-19, and more sacrifices will be needed from all Americans before we can declare victory over the invisible enemy, but when the time does come to reopen the economy, we won’t have any time to waste.
Fortunately, the president is already preparing the U.S. economy for a historic rebound. Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, the White House has implemented numerous economic initiatives to sustain American businesses and assist millions of American workers. The landmark $2.2 trillion relief package signed into law at the end of last month will soon deliver direct payments of up to $1,200 to almost every adult in the country, an amount that balloons to $3,400 for a typical family of four once $500-per-child supplements are included.
In addition, the hundreds of thousands of Ohioans who have filed unemployment claims in recent weeks will be able to receive an extra $600 per week in emergency benefits, as well as a four-month extension of their eligibility. Likewise, businesses that have been forced to shut down or limit their operations due to stay-at-home orders are already taking advantage of $350 billion in federal assistance — and an additional $250 billion would already be on its way if not for Democrat obstructionism in Congress.
These emergency measures will speed our return to economic normalcy, at which point the Second Great American Comeback can propel us to even greater prosperity than before.
“Everybody is so well unified and working so hard. It is a beautiful thing to see,” the President tweeted last month. “They love our great Country. We will end up being stronger than ever before!”
The president is right: there are better days ahead for America — and for Ohio. We’ve overcome economic challenges before, and we can do it again.
