… is bad news for Biden, of course
Cable news was on in the background Thursday night when, responding to a right-leaning critic of some Democratic policy or other, an on-air pundit doubted the critic could name three examples to support the claim.
“Oh yeah? Name three,” we said in unison. (“Oh, yeah? Name five,” is a running joke around here.)
It’s standard fare for politicians to complain about adversaries’ “failed policies” without naming a single one. It lets the public fill in the blanks with sins real or imagined. The behavior is so rote that reporters never challenge speakers to provide examples. In the Politico article cited in my post below, a Trump spokesperson, on cue, slammed Joe Biden for his “failed policies.”
Ya mean, like this one? (CNBC):
Job growth posted a surprise increase in January, demonstrating again that the U.S. labor market is solid and poised to support broader economic growth.
Nonfarm payrolls expanded by 353,000 for the month, much better than the Dow Jones estimate for 185,000, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The unemployment rate held at 3.7%, against the estimate for 3.8%.
Wage growth also showed strength, as average hourly earnings increased 0.6%, double the monthly estimate. On a year-over-year basis, wages jumped 4.5%, well above the 4.1% forecast. The wage gains came amid a decline in average hours worked, down to 34.1, or 0.2 hour lower.
Job growth was widespread on the month, led by professional and business services with 74,000. Other significant contributors included health care (70,000), retail trade (45,000), government (36,000), social assistance (30,000) and manufacturing (23,000).
The report also indicated that December’s job gains were much better than originally reported. The month posted a gain of 333,000, which was an upwards revision of 117,000 from the initial estimate. November also was revised higher, to 182,000, or 9,000 higher than the last estimate.
Just Wednesday, Axios reported that the U.S. economy’s recovery under Biden “grew faster than any other large advanced economy last year — by a wide margin — and is on track to do so again in 2024.”
Maybe it’s not bad news for Biden as much as for the spinmeisters at Fox.
I remind myself not to pay much attention to presidential polls. The weakness of “the poller coaster” is manifest. Polls are also dependent on people who will actually answer their phones these days. (How many of you do?) No sooner does one poll declare Biden leading than another later in the day says it’s Trump.
A traumatized victim of the failed “Take Our Border Back” convoy last night came to the shocking realization that some of the organizers were “bad people” only in it to scam true believers for almost $160,000. If that glimmer of light got in, perhaps the truth of the strong economy backed by, you know, evidence, will sink in before election time. If not for her, perhaps with more of the flagging Trump faithful.
Now if only grocery prices will come down. That $6 box of breakfast cereal that was three-something before the pandemic isn’t going into the cart anymore.