Growth is what matters

THE2016 election was not about a wall or transgender bathrooms. It wasn’t even about Obama Care or taxes. Sure, they all played a role, but this election was really all about growth.

And last week’s upwardly revised gross domestic product number was a solid one at 3 percent, up from a 2.6 percent first take. That’s quite a jump from the final President Obama- influenced quarterly GDP number: 1.2 percent in the first quarter.

Any honest economist would tell you that growth is the fundamental driver of all things in the economy. And a growth rate of 3 percent begins to lift all boats.

But the best part of this pro-growth coup is that Congress can’t take any credit for it, since it hasn’t done a darn thing to drive growth.

No, this one is all on President Trump. For better or worse — in this case, better — he now owns the economy.

For starters, it is important to note that Obama never recorded a single year during his presidency with 3 percent GDP.

Yes, he had a few good quarters, but he was the only president in history to not post a 3 percent annual GDP — in fact his eight-year average was a lowly 1.6 percent.

That 1.6 percent was pathetic considering Obama had almost $1 trillion in stimulus and zero in interest rates throughout 99 percent of his term, along with the $4 trillion advantage of the Fed’s quantitativeeasing bond-buying program.

Whether you voted for him or not, Trump won handily by more than 75 electoral votes to fix the crummiest economy in a generation. Instead of attacking business, he fostered an environment for growth that is both pro-business and pro-worker, two things most politicians usually pit against each other.

Also, small business and consumer sentiment has been hitting some of the highest levels in more than a decade.

This is a valuable lesson for all those sideline sitters in Congress: You’re being left behind, and there are no trophies in America for not participating.