GDP Numbers Should Be a Wake-Up Call

The GDP numbers issued on Thursday should be a wake-up call to Congress and to President Obama. They show an economy that is growing too slowly to generate the jobs and the earnings that Americans need. The GDP growth rate was revised down for past years. At the current rate of second-quarter growth, 2.3%, annual GDP growth for 2015 will be lower than 2%, because of the slow growth in the first quarter.  Plus, investment is only growing at 0.6%, too slow to generate meaningful growth.  Congress and the president need to focus on raising the growth rate by reforming taxation and regulations.  Mr. President, this is not the time for the Environmental Protection Agency to be zeroing out the coal industry and raising the price of electricity and the burden on American consumers and producers.  It is not the time to make employment more expensive by raising the minimum wage.  It is the time to lower the corporate tax rate, get rid of burdensome and unnecessary regulations, and make it easier for businesses to hire.