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-Reuters
"The U.S. economy sits atop of the World Economic Forum’s annual global competitiveness survey for the first time since the 2007-2009 financial crisis,” Katanga Johnson reports. Under President Donald J. Trump, America scored high because of “its ‘vibrant’ entrepreneurial culture and ‘strong’ labor market and financial system,’” according to the WEF report.
-CNBC
Jeff Cox reports that job openings hit a record 7.136 million for the month of August, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. “Openings dwarfed the total level of workers looking for jobs, which stood at 6.23 million for that month and fell to 5.96 million in September, recent Labor Department statistics show.”
-Washington Examiner
“President Trump’s promise to cut Obama-era regulations has gone into overdrive, with the slashing generating $33 billion in savings, far more than expected,” Paul Bedard reports. “A new report from the White House budget office said that $23 billion in savings has occurred this year alone.”
-The Washington Post
In The Washington Post, Neomi Rao, Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, explains how the Trump Administration has cut regulations at breakneck speed. “When reviewing regulations, we start with a simple question: What is the problem this regulation is trying to fix? Unless otherwise required by law, we move forward only when we can identify a serious problem or market failure that would be best addressed by federal regulation.”
-MarketWatch
“It can’t get a whole lot better in the U.S. job market. Openings just hit a record high, the U.S. unemployment rate has fallen to a 48-year low of 3.7% and hiring remains robust,” Jeffry Bartash reports. The strong demand for American labor is pushing up wages and benefits, as well, fueling the longest economic expansion in U.S. history.
-Fox News
“As a result of ObamaCare, average premiums on the federal exchange jumped by 105 percent between 2013 and 2017,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma writes. But with President Trump’s reforms, “fortunately, these chaotic trends are now turning. For the first time since ObamaCare was enacted, the premium for a typical federal exchange plan—while still much too high—will drop.”
-The Wall Street Journal
President Trump, along with the First Lady, “toured hurricane-torn areas of Florida and Georgia on Monday, declaring that ‘nobody has seen anything like this’ as crews continued to restore power and residents grappled with the devastation,” Alex Leary reports. Addressing the work of first responders and volunteers, the President said the job they’ve done “has been incredible.”
-Washington Examiner
“The Obama administration released thousands of unaccompanied alien children to criminal sponsors,” writes Dr. Jason Piccolo, a former ICE Supervisor. “I know because I was the Homeland Security whistleblower who legally came forward in late 2015 to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel and to Sen. Chuck Grassley’s office about the releases . . . Only now is this serious and dangerous problem finally being dealt with.”
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U.S. Is World’s Most Competitive Economy for First Time in a Decade
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Under President Donald J. Trump, the United States is finally back on top “as the most competitive country in the world, regaining the No. 1 spot for the first time since 2008 in an index produced by the World Economic Forum,” Joanna Sugden reports for The Wall Street Journal.
“America’s vibrant entrepreneurial culture and its dominance in producing a competitive labor market and nimble financial system” partly explain its top ranking, the Global Competitiveness Report says.
In CNBC, Jeff Cox reports that job openings hit a record 7.136 million for the month of August, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. “Openings dwarfed the total level of workers looking for jobs, which stood at 6.23 million for that month and fell to 5.96 million in September, recent Labor Department statistics show.”
USA Today’s editorial board agrees with the Trump Administration’s major decision to require drug companies to disclose their prices in TV ads. “The proposed transparency is as welcome as it is overdue. Health care is the only consumer commodity where sellers get to hide the price,” the editors write. “If companies want to advertise the benefits of their drugs, they ought to reveal the prices at the same time and place.”
“President Trump’s decision last week to allow the year-round sale of E15 is a promise made and kept to farmers throughout rural America,” Iowa Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst write in The Wall Street Journal. “The administration’s E15 action will deliver a timely infusion of optimism to farmers. It will also put an end to an unnecessary government regulation that hinders consumer choice at the pump.”
“President Trump is smashing the record for appointing judges to the powerful federal appeals courts with 29 picks confirmed, helping him put his stamp on the judiciary well beyond the Supreme Court,” Alex Swoyer writes in The Washington Times. “For conservatives, the pace of action is a major victory, particularly in the face of overwhelming opposition from liberal activists and Senate Democrats.”
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Jobless claims drop 5,000 to 210,000 in mid-October, stick near 50-year low
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“The number of Americans losing their jobs and applying for unemployment benefits each week remained near a 49-year low in mid-October,” Jeffry Bartash reports for MarketWatch. “It can’t get a whole lot better in the U.S. job market. Openings just hit a record high, the U.S. unemployment rate has fallen to a 48-year low of 3.7% and hiring remains robust.”
The strong demand for American labor is pushing up wages and benefits, as well, fueling the longest economic expansion in U.S. history, Bartash adds.
As another Central American caravan heads for the U.S. border, Ana Quintana explains the significance in The Daily Signal. “The problem here is not a lack of compassion for these people, but rather, the dangerous precedent created by allowing a massive caravan to arrive at the U.S.’s southern border.” The bottom line: “The U.S. immigration system is already stretched beyond capacity and must prioritize those who apply for asylum in good faith.”
“One of the core promises that swept President Donald Trump into office was that he would renegotiate better deals for the United States with our traditional trading partners,” Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue writes in The Spokesman-Review. “To strike the best deals possible for the United States, the president has shown that he is willing to walk away from the bargaining table if he feels our country is being unfairly treated.” The results speak for themselves, as evidenced by the newly minted United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that will replace NAFTA.
“Some Democrats are trying furiously to push back against a New York Times article reporting what’s been patently clear for years to any honest observer: The party is abandoning its support of Israel,” the New York Post editorial board writes. “Even still-pro-Israel elected Democrats can sniff their party’s political winds — so don’t expect them to stay pro-Israel much longer.”
President Trump Smashes Regs, Cuts $33 Billion vs. $245 Billion Added by Obama
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“President Trump’s promise to cut Obama-era regulations has gone into overdrive, with the slashing generating $33 billion in savings, far more than expected,” Paul Bedard reports for the Washington Examiner. “A new report from the White House budget office said that $23 billion in savings has occurred this year alone, with the total at $33 billion since the president took office.”
In The Washington Post, Neomi Rao, Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, explains how the Trump Administration is cutting regulations at breakneck speed. “Since President Trump took office, farmers can more productively use their land. Small businesses can hire more workers and provide more affordable health care. Innovators are freer to pursue advances in autonomous vehicles, drones and commercial space exploration. Veterans enjoy expanded access to doctors through a telehealth program. And infrastructure can be improved more quickly with streamlined permitting requirements.”
“Too bad, the media is missing a great presidency,” White House Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro writes in The Washington Times. “President Trump is demonstrating both to predecessors and future presidents all the good that can come when the person in the Oval Office thinks 24/7 about how to grow this economy and raise the wages of the men and women of America, particularly those who work with their hands.”
“Marine Sgt. Maj. John Canley’s astounding heroism in Vietnam 50 years ago speaks for itself, so loudly that Wednesday he was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Donald Trump at a White House ceremony,” Tom Vanden Brook and David Jackson write in USA Today. “John raced straight into enemy fire over and over again, saving numerous American lives,” President Trump said.
On Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence traveled to Georgia to survey recovery efforts following Hurricane Michael. “The camaraderie amongst farmers and families has only strengthened since last Wednesday, something Pence says he noticed,” WTXL reports. |
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The White House • October 17, 2018
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President Trump tells his Cabinet to cut the fat
Deregulation doesn’t make headlines as often as some other topics. While Americans can see the results of policies such as tax cuts immediately in their paychecks, cutting stifling red tape across the Federal bureaucracy is a long-term investment in building a stronger, freer, and more competitive America.
But regulation is the perfect symbol of Washington’s decades-long power grab. “An ever-growing maze of regulations, rules, restrictions has cost our country trillions and trillions of dollars, millions of jobs, countless American factories, and devastated many industries,” President Donald J. Trump says. Now, 21 months into his Presidency, regulatory reform has saved American families and business owners $33 billion.
Compare that with the Obama record: In his first 21 months in office, President Obama imposed $245 billion in regulatory costs on the American people.
Unlike most politicians, President Trump backed up his campaign talk with a specific promise, pledging that his government would cut two regulations each year for every new one added. The results? The Trump Administration issued 176 deregulatory actions last year—eliminating 12 regulations for every new one.
Today, the President met with American workers from a number of industries to hear firsthand how these policies have affected them. Here are just a few examples of how the deregulation revolution is making Americans’ lives a little easier:
- The Department of Labor made it simpler for small businesses to provide better health insurance to their employees through association health plans.
- The Department of Veterans Affairs greatly expanded veterans’ ability to use telehealth services, giving them access to state-of-the-art care everywhere.
- Areas off the coast of New England have been opened to commercial sea scallop harvesting for the first time in years—an economic benefit of $654 million for American fishermen.
Next up: In today's Cabinet meeting, President Trump directed each member of his Cabinet to streamline their agency's budget by 5 percent this fiscal year.
Another economic record
Hardly a week goes by without more good news on America’s booming economy. The latest record: Job openings hit a new all-time high of 7.136 million for the month of August, revealing a strong, active market for American labor. “Openings dwarfed the total level of workers looking for jobs, which stood at 6.23 million for that month and fell to 5.96 million in September,” Jeff Cox reported for CNBC.
In case that weren’t enough, the total number of job hires also climbed to a new record: 5.78 million. Compared with a few short years ago, in today’s economy, American workers are having far less trouble finding work.
President Trump chimed in on Twitter. “Incredible number just out, 7,036,000 job openings. Astonishing - it’s all working! Stock Market up big on tremendous potential of USA. Also, Strong Profits. We are Number One in World, by far!”
Video of the day
Yesterday, Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence visited Georgia to survey damage from Hurricane Michael. Their visit came a day after President Trump and the First Lady visited Florida and Georgia to meet with first responders and volunteers.
“The people impacted by #HurricaneMichael remain in our hearts. Yesterday, the @VP and I traveled to Georgia to see firsthand the devastation. We spoke with business owners & farmers. The storm destroyed years of work & they still exuded great strength & faith. We are with you!” the Second Lady tweeted.
Photo of the Day
Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead
President Donald J. Trump, joined by Vice President Mike Pence and members of his Cabinet, meets with workers about cutting regulatory red tape | October 17, 2018
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The White House • October 18, 2018
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Video of the day
This evening, President Donald J. Trump is headed to Montana, where the Administration’s economic agenda is paying off for hardworking Americans.
The 300th Marine Medal of Honor recipient
Yesterday, President Trump proudly awarded Sergeant Major John Canley the Congressional Medal of Honor. “Fifty years ago, an American Marine fought with unmatched bravery in one of the longest and bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War—the Battle of Hue City,” the President said.
While serving as Company Gunnery Sergeant, Canley led attacks for three days against multiple enemy-fortified positions while exposing himself to enemy fire to carry wounded Marines to safety. On February 6, 1968, at a hospital compound, he twice scaled a wall in full view of the enemy to aid his injured companions.
Sergeant Major Canley saved many American lives as he raced through enemy fire repeatedly, ultimately defeating a large group of communist fighters. “America is the greatest force for peace, justice, and freedom the world has ever known because of you and people like you,” President Trump told Canley at the White House yesterday.
Photo of the Day
Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks
First Lady Melania Trump visits with children affected by neonatal abstinence syndrome of the Maternal Addiction, Treatment, Education and Research (MATER) program at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia | October 18, 2018
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