Posted on 05/10/2006 8:43:34 AM PDT by MooseMan
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy is strong when measured by macro-statistics, but sluggish wage growth, rising gasoline prices and interest rates, and the gloomy background music from the Iraq war are overshadowing the good economic news in the minds of most Americans.
To be sure, corporations are raking in strong profits, which are driving the stock market toward its all-time high. Unemployment is near historic lows. Even a slump in home sales in parts of the country hasn't slowed consumer spending significantly.
But when pollster Gallup recently surveyed Americans, 64 percent said the economy was getting worse. Only 33 percent described it as good, 40 percent as fair and 23 percent as poor. And that survey was taken March 13-16, before gas prices leapt more than 30 cents a gallon to a national average of $2.92.
"When we talk about consumer confidence, or rating the economy, we're talking attitudes here. And if they're down on a lot of things in America, they'll be down on that, too," said Frank Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup Poll.
Pollsters, he said, "are picking up decadelong lows" for citizen views about the White House and Congress, fueled by the unpopular war in Iraq and other issues. These views cloud feelings about the economy.
Experts agree that U.S. economic growth exceeds historic norms. In late April, the Commerce Department reported a sizzling first-quarter annual growth rate of 4.8 percent in gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of the economy. Unemployment, at 4.7 percent, hovers near all-time lows.
The Dow Jones blue-chip stock average closed Tuesday at 11,639.77, nearing its all-time high of 11,722, set Jan. 14, 2000. That's lifted millions of U.S. workers' 401(k) retirement holdings.
So why aren't Americans celebrating?
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
Boy, that sucks!
[Why does a good economy not feel that way?]
The MSM needs to realize that they are misleading the nation.
The MSM should have a long look in the mirror.
Because the Liberal MSM won't report the good news? Imagine that.
Maybe because that "a good economy" completely contradicts what we read everyday in the papers? Could that have something to do with it?
Maybe it just doesn't feel good for the Journalism sector... given the drop in newspaper last two quarter...
Well, it may be "unpopular" but it's gotta be done sometime in the course of human history...
...unless the Liberals, Democrats & Peace/Environmental activists actually wanna have a US-Islam war right her in the continental United States and/or be governed by Ayatollah & mullahs..
"Because Democrats aren't in control."
The intelligent ones are.
Might be time to move.
I think the answer is deeper than just the MSM midleading the public - which they are, certainly, but a lot of us are now savvy to being mislead, and that should take the sting out of the propoganda. Here's what I see: a lot of my colleagues are middle-aged people between 30 and 60. These are the prime earning years for most of us. Some of us spent time being broke or in poverty, and we save and spend our money wisely. We don't max out the credit cards and go deep into debt. On the other hand, I know people who are just buying things left and right and running their debt right up to their limit to pay off the bills - in other words, they're choosing to create their own financial problems. I know people earning $60,000 annually who have four times that in debt with homes, boats, trucks, new cars, and cards filled to the limit. No wonder that person feels like "it's not a good economy." That poor slob gets fired, or the price of gas moves up just a little, and they've got no room to adapt. Personal choice plays a role in all this. Just my two cents.
Because when you take a poll outside a Neil Young concert those ar ethe numbers you are going to get. Perhaps they should try polling outside of a Nascar event I bet they would get more realist numbers
The MSM knows it's misleading the American public. It's not subliminal for these people. I listened to the news reporting on the suicide bombings in Tal-Afar yesterday on several different radio stations claiming to use different news source, APU, UPI etc. They were word for word "Verbatim" copies. The sentence structure for one was changed. That's it. So much for "News".
People buy into the notion of easy credit. Spend beyond their means. The creditors show up demanding payment. To that they say, "Boy the economy sucks!"
Good observations.
It's like Rush says - history starts for most people the day they were born.
I was laughing when they talked about "rising interest rates". Most kids voting today don't remember gas lines and house mortgage rates of 18%.
My liberal sister is 10 years younger than me, and thinks Carter was wonderful. She doesn't remember these things. I do.
"I know people earning $60,000 annually who have four times that in debt with homes, boats, trucks, new cars, and cards filled to the limit."
Slackers....
Yeah, if anything happens with my current job, I'll pretty much have no choice.
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