Pence Hammers Kaine’s Dismal Jobs Record

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence came out of the gate in the only vice presidential debate hitting the No. 1 issue on the minds of most Americans: the economy.

It was a smart move. When it comes to economic records, the vice presidential candidates actually have records to look at — and the results favor Pence.

“It really is remarkable that [Clinton and Kaine] are actually advocating $1 trillion in tax increases. I get that, you tried to raise taxes here in Virginia and were unsuccessful.”

“[President Obama] almost doubled the national debt,” said Pence. “I am very proud that I come from a state that works. The state of Indiana has balanced budgets. We cut taxes, we made record investments in education and in infrastructure, and I still finished my term with $2 billion in the bank. That’s a little bit different than when Sen. Kaine was governor here in Virginia. He actually tried to raise taxes by about $4 billion. He left his state about $2 billion in the hole … Unemployment doubled when he was governor.”

Pence pressed the attack, hammering President Obama’s economic record that Clinton has pledged to carry forward.

“I think he’s a very fitting running mate for Hillary Clinton,” said Pence. “In the wake of a season where American families are struggling in this economy under the weight of higher taxes, and Obamacare, and the war on coal, and the stifling avalanche of regulations … Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine want more of the same. It really is remarkable that they are actually advocating $1 trillion in tax increases. I get that, you tried to raise taxes here in Virginia and were unsuccessful.”

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Pence then reminded Kaine that President Bill Clinton said Obamacare was a costly, “crazy” scheme.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine’s response was weak. He said Donald Trump would say “you’re fired” to workers. Kaine then rambled on about a tax plan — boutique tax cuts — and college tuition plans.

Pence understood that both men have been governors. That gives them more than just legislative records to look at. Both men have also served in Congress.

Kaine probably doesn’t want you to know too much about his one term. In four years, Virginia lost 97,800 jobs under Kaine’s governorship. Kaine also entered office asking for $4 billion in tax increases.

On top of that, most U.S. counties have failed to fully recover from the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009. Earlier this year, the National Association of Counties found that as many as 93 percent of U.S. counties had not recovered on four economic indicators by the end of 2015: total employment, the unemployment rate, size of the economy, and home values.

Normally, recoveries are booming in the sixth or seventh year. Not under Obama. There are signs that wages are only now beginning to budge.

But Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Donald Trump’s running mate, created 150,000 jobs just in the previous 18 months, and made cutting the state’s income tax rate a centerpiece of his first-term goals.

Pence succeeded, despite some infighting within the GOP, and cut the rate from 3.4 percent to 3.3 percent. The rate will drop to 3.23 percent in 2017. Pence likes to say he cut taxes every year since he took office in January 2013.

The Hoosier State also employs more people today than at any point in its 200-year history. The most recent peak was 3.23 million working people in August 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That boast — Pence and his would-be successor, Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb, make that claim a lot — drives the left-leaning PolitiFact crazy. They rated the claim half-true and said you cannot compare raw numbers of employment in, say, 1950, to those in 2016. But you can compare raw numbers to the previous decade’s figures. During the Dot-Com boom in the economy (which Bill Clinton took full credit for), the new economy helped Indiana peak at 3,040,655 in February 2000.

A recession followed, and Indiana employment peaked again, in February 2006, at 3,075,000. Another recession followed. Under Pence, Indiana broke the old 2007 record in February 2015, at 3,080,000. In August, it was 3,226,385. One can also surmise from those numbers that Pence helped Indiana add 146,000 jobs in 18 months.

Unemployment in August was 4.5 percent, almost half of what it was when Pence took office. When Pence took office, the unemployment rate was 8.4 percent.

Tim Kaine’s record is more dismal — to be kind.

Kaine governed from 2006 to 2010. When Kaine took office, Virginia unemployment was 3.2 percent; nationally, it was 4.7 percent. When he left office, it was 7.2 percent; it was 9.8 percent nationally.

But the fact that unemployment more than doubled was likely felt less by Virginia, whose economy is bolstered by the booming District of Columbia metropolitan area (which has the highest wages in the nation among the 50 states and the District). Virginia’s southern coastal area also benefits from military spending.

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Still, the state lost 97,800 jobs under Kaine.

Kaine also proposed raising taxes by $4 billion his first year in office. Republicans in the Virginia legislature halted that four-year plan, however.

Because of the wealth of northern Virginia (and its reliance on federal government jobs), the state has high median household income. The national median wage is $56,516, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Virginia’s is $61,486.

By comparison, Indiana’s median household income is $51,983.

Both men have only served one term. Kaine was term-limited in Virginia. Pence was in the middle of re-election in Indiana when Trump chose him as his vice presidential candidate.