Herman Cain’s column is distributed by CainTV, which can be found at Herman Cain
The importance of consumer confidence to economic growth cannot be overstated. When people feel good about the economy, they confidently spend and invest their money. Sometimes you get false consumer confidence that spurs people to spend for a period of time, but when it's not based on something fundamentally sound, it doesn't last for long.
One of my favorite restaurants in Las Vegas is Lakeside, on the lower level of the Wynn Hotel. Everything on the menu is great! Fresh fish, other seafood, beef and salads, you name it! I've tried them all!
I know it seems like a long time ago, but in the run-up to the 2016 election, the predictions of catastrophe in the event of a Donald Trump win were quite something.
Last Sunday I was one of seven American Black Conservatives (ABCs) who received the African American Trailblazers award for some of the unique achievements I have been blessed to accomplish during my life. John Sibley Butler was one of the other recipients who reminded us that it is good to observe our black history, but we must "quit dreaming of a better yesterday."
Although we've already told you there is a silver lining or two, the fact remains that the two-year budget deal negotiated by Republican and Democrat leaders in Congress is exactly the opposite of what the country needs right now. It's true that it will more adequately fund the military, and that's important. But in order to get there, Republicans basically allowed the Democrats to remove all restraints on federal spending, while messing up the revenue stream by extending 35 tax breaks that were supposed to expire.
In God we trust. The Flag. The National Anthem.
When elected Democrats sat unmoved during the State of the Union address last week as the president embraced these defining symbols of our nation, I was shocked, embarrassed and somewhat frightened.
Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi have been insisting that $1,000 bonuses to workers are chump change, an degrading insult that should make the workers seethe with rage. I have a feeling that's not what most of them were doing as they strolled into the bank to cash or deposit those unexpected checks. But if Chuck and Nancy don't like $1,000 bonuses, maybe they'd feel better about rising wages at small businesses.
Here's an observation that isn't even open to debate: If a business find itself with more capital on hand than it expected, it will use that capital in whatever way it believes will best support the company's pursuit of its goals.
President Trump and conservatives are calling it the Schumer Shutdown. Senator Chuck Schumer and the liberals are calling it the Trump Shutdown.
Most of us don't care, and most of us are not directly affected by the shutdown.
Dan gave me credit for this the other day, but I'll take some myself if that's OK with you.
He remembers from his days as my syndicate editor that I was talking a decade ago about the need to repeal the tax on repatriated profits. It wasn't a hot topic of conversation at the time. There weren't a lot of pundits or politicians talking about it.
Two years ago, I wrote that the Dream was on hold:
The economy is stalled. Business expansion is stalled. There are fewer doors of opportunity for people who want to run through them. Median incomes are declining. Taxes and the national debt are increasing.
Last Sunday I talked about why it's actually a good thing for the economy if businesses use their tax savings for stock buybacks, because it puts more capital in the hands of investors who will likely find productive uses for the cash. This was a partial rebutall to the bluster from Democrats like Elizabeth Warren that businesses would do nothing to "help workers" with the tax cut.
After nearly a year of the Trump presidency, it is clear that Trump Derangement Syndrome is here to stay among the liberal media and the so-called Democrat leaders in Congress.
We told you on the radio Thursday that Elizabeth Warren gets more wrong by the day. She insisted before the tax cut vote in December that the corporate rate cut would not benefit ordinary people at all, because the corporations would just use the saved money for stock buybacks and executive bonuses.
First we were told Donald Trump could never win the nomination. Then we were told he couldn't win the election. Then we were told no good people would join his administration. Then we were told he could never govern. Then we were told the Republican legislative agenda was impossible.
