Is the Trump economy winning too much?

by Curtis Ellis

Candidate Donald J. Trump said if he were president, the United States would win again.

We’d be winning so much, he promised, people would be tired of winning and say “please, stop, I can’t take it any more.”

That’s proven to be yet another promise President Trump made that’s come true.

The latest economic figures show unemployment claims dropped to the lowest level since 1969 – that’s a half century ago.

Unemployment is so low, there are more job openings then there are job-seekers to fill them.

The tight labor market has businesses raising wages to keep the workers from quitting for greener pastures elsewhere. (That’s happening more now, too.)

And while higher wages might be seen as a “problem” by employers (or the masters of Wall Street), for the forgotten men and women of America, it’s a “problem” they want to have.

The economy is winning so much the Federal Reserve is tired of winning, even if the American people aren’t.

The Fed sees its job as taking the punch bowl away just when the party gets going, and President Trump is not pleased.

But it’s not just the economy where the winning is, well, almost overwhelming.

President Trump’s energy policies have resulted in the American energy renaissance he promised.

U.S. shale producers are investing in new technology and drilling, and that’s yielded a gusher of crude.

According to research by Simmons & Company and backed up by HSBC, Texas alone will produce over 6.5 million barrels per day by 2020 – enough to be the third-largest producer in the world, surpassing Iraq and Iran.

Most of the action is in an area of West Texas and New Mexico known as the Permian Basin. Energy analysts say the Permian is the “largest and most important source of oil supply growth in the world.”

But all this winning comes at a price: The region doesn’t have the infrastructure, human and physical, to get all that crude to market.

The area is running out of pipelines to ship the oil. Supplies and services needed at the wellhead are in short supply, and so are skilled workers.

This bottleneck is putting the brakes on production, driving up the price of oil – and gasoline – and holding back our ability to achieve energy independence. It affects national security and prosperity. Modern economies depend on energy, and our abundant energy resources give us an edge on China and other competitors.

The Trump administration has done a magnificent job of making the economy great again.

Now, to keep the economy great, we must stay the course President Trump has set.

We must continue dismantling the regulatory state strangling the small- and medium-size enterprises that drive innovation and growth.

We must invest in roads, rails and other infrastructure, the operating system of our modern society.

We must ensure our people have the education and real-world skills training they need to support themselves, their families and our country.

This will cement President Trump’s legacy and America’s security for years to come.

And make no mistake: none of this will happen unless we elect Republicans to Congress in November.