Remembering the forgotten men and women of America
It wasn’t long ago that Washington had all but given up on our country’s blue-collar workers—especially those in the supposedly outdated manufacturing and energy sectors. The message that the “experts” tried to sell was that these industries were in decline, and with the rise of globalization, nothing could be done to change that.
Former President Obama even famously mocked then-candidate Donald J. Trump’s pledge to bring these jobs back. “What magic wand do you have?” President Obama asked. It turns out no magic wand was necessary—just a President who was willing to fight for forgotten workers across our country with policies that put U.S. industry first.
Watch: President Trump tours new Pennsylvania manufacturing plant
From day one, President Trump challenged the Beltway’s prevailing wisdom and unleashed a policy agenda that’s made life easier for America’s small businesses. Employer and worker tax cuts, deregulation, and new trade deals have helped create more than 6.2 million jobs and driven the unemployment rate to a near 50-year low.
While President Trump toured Shell’s new Pennsylvania Petrochemicals Complex, he explained that it’s a new dawn for American energy and manufacturing.
“With your help, we’re not only unleashing American energy—we’re restoring the glory of American manufacturing, and we are reclaiming our noble heritage as a nation of builders again,” he told factory workers. All the while, the critics “expected you to stay on the sidelines, silence your voices, and surrender the future of our nation.”
By 2020, the United States is now predicted to export more energy than it imports for the first time since 1953. Today, we're also the largest crude oil producer in the world.
Blue-collar jobs are surging for the first time in decades. All told, 523,000 manufacturing jobs have been added since President Trump took office. Only 287,000 were created during all of President Obama’s final three years as commander in chief.
Speaking in Detroit today, Vice President Mike Pence explained why. “Wages are rising at the fastest pace in more than a decade,” he told the Detroit Economic Club. “And maybe most important of all to the President and me: that wages are rising fastest for blue-collar working Americans. The forgotten men and women of America are forgotten no more.”
By the numbers: American energy and manufacturing is back!
David Urban: “Trump has kept his promise to revive manufacturing.” |
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