That is objectively false; the economy was doing very well in 2016. Trump’s base hadn’t been as well off in years. Had Obama been allowed to run for a third term he’d have won.
This doom and gloom narrative may have helped Trump get elected, but it’s a false one. There were nearly 12 million jobs when Obama left office than when he started. Over 18 million since we hit bottom about a year into his first term. Unemployment (all measure, not just U-3) is down.
Job growth is outpacing the “core age” population growth everywhere, but highest in small towns and rural areas: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-bad-is-the-labor-shortage-cities-will-pay-you-to-move-there-1525102030
Speaking of Trump and orbits. Not enough rolleyes for that bit of asshattery.
Those numbers were lies and the real unemployment number was more like 40%…until Trump took office when suddenly they became real and solid proof that he was bringing jobs back to America. Similarly, the booming stock market was a sign of a dangerous bubble caused by an incompetent administration…until Trump took office when suddenly it became evidence of what a good job the new President was doing.
And in other news, the war with Eastasia is going swimmingly.
Yesterday, Mike Pence praised Joe Arpaio for his commitment to strong borders and his respect for the rule of law. You may recall that Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt of court for refusing to end his department’s discriminatory profiling practices. You may also remember him for running, essentially, a concentration camp in the Arizona desert. But did you know he once framed a man for an entirely fictitious assassination plot cooked up by Arpaio himself? The man spent 4 years in jail awaiting trial before being found not guilty. The victim of the plot sued and settled for an undisclosed amount. http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/a-phony-murder-plot-against-joe-arpaio-winds-up-costing-taxpayers-11-million-6629798
So, anyway, Mike Pence thinks Arpaio is a great lawman. Which is kind of worrisome for those of us, including me, who are really hoping Trump gets frog-marched out of the White House soon.
I’d assume whatever avalanche of evidence that led to that would drag Pence along with it in its wake.
It makes more sense when you recognize what “law and order” is code for in American politics.
I sure hope so, but who the hell can predict anything anymore? If all goes really, really, well, we’ll get a Democratic majority in the House in the midterms, Trump and Pence will get booted shortly thereafter, and we’ll get a Dem president. But, I have no real hope of that happening.
As Gyrate said, the official UE figures are rather incomplete, failing to capture a broad sector of people who have dropped off the edge of the system.
More importantly, the metric for gauging the electoral mood is not how the economy actually is performing but what the voters think its trajectory is. If the narrative of optimism succeeds, the party in power stays in power, whilst fomenting anxiety is the opposition’s road in.
The other problem is the DJIA. It gets a lot of coverage, but I have doubts about its usefulness in assessing the genuine state of the economy beyond outliers like the '08 crash. In truth, a steadily rising Dow worries me because it looks like an increased flow of revenue toward the plutocrats and kleptocrats, widening the class-gulf, which is a sure path to Robespierre II.
Me, neither. But I really, really hope it does if only to see the look on certain people’s faces when they have to speak the phrase “President Pelosi.”
And it is always going so well, one has to wonder why it isn’t over…excuse me, someone at the door…
Damn you. It’s so hard to tell satire from reality these days. 
Sorry 
See if you can tell which this is: “Ty Cobb to leave Trump’s legal team, be replaced by Clinton impeachment lawyer”
Core age workforce participation now is about the same as when Obama took office. Part-time work for economic reasons is down. By all means, share with us where to find this broad sector.
I get the feeling that you two are talking past each other on the issue of “the media’s desire to retain SHS as a source.” Unless I’m mistaken, Banquet Bear, in using that characterization, is talking about retaining her as an un-named source, which I hope you can see is a different thing than being able to retain entrée to the White House briefing room (for some reason, both things are perceived as valuable, which may be contributing to the confusion).
I DO share your consternation at the notion that anything from SHS could be characterized as “reliable” and/or “accurate,” whether she permits her name to be used, or whether she doesn’t.
One of Trump’s fake doctors – does it really matter which one? – is now saying that Trump told him what to say in describing Trump as an incredibly healthy individual.
I wish people would stop placing the words “Trump” and “orbit” so close together. it’s too easy to misread that as “obit,” which makes my heart leap with joy; the inevitable disappointment is unbearable.
A segment on last week tonight the other day talked about a con with crypto currencies, where they’d get a bunch of people to pump it up, then sell it to unwitting investors. The thing is, there are no unwitting investors, everyone thinks that they are in on the con, and that it is going to be some other poor bastard that is going to be stuck with worthless bits at the end of the day…
How does that work? If the press just went to the doctor, and asked how trump’s health was, the doctor couldn’t answer without violating hippa. So, obviously, the patient needs to consent to the release of medical information. If the patient demands that untrue information is released on their behalf, is that the direction the doctor is supposed to follow?
That’s why I wake up every day with a tall glass of Covfefe. Covfefe, for when reality mocks satire.
SMH, really? Stop making stuff up. Like anyone is going to believe that. 
Didja hear the part about Trump sitting in his limo and having the doctor leave his office to come down and sit with him?
Even if the day ever comes when they have to wake up and smell the covfefe, it will still be easy to just blame Trump instead of themselves. “Hey, we trusted the guy and he lied to us. Whaddaya gonna do?”