GDP 2018 = 2.9%. What happened to 4+%?

[_Kevin Graham]

Apples to apples

Now, why did I use 2.9% in my column? Because I was comparing apples with apples.

The Republicans made a big point about how the economy never grew 3% in any year during Obama’s presidency. It was a wonderful, easy-to-understand symbol of what they depicted as Obama’s economic failures.

The best annual figure under Obama was 2.9% in 2015, and the Trump White House was sure it would beat that this year. It put everything it could into it: lots of jawboning, deregulations galore, a big tax cut and a huge increase in government spending.

Unfortunately, the economy fell just short of Trump’s 3% goal post. According to the latest estimates, Trump’s best year just matches Obama’s best.

That’s why the White House switched to the 3.1% year-over-year figure when it touted Trump’s successes in its press release on GDP. The economic difference between 2.9% and 3.1% is trivial, but the political difference is the difference between the Greatest President Ever and the Kenyan Marxist.

Unfortunately for the pro-Trump spin machine, the best year-over-year growth in Obama’s presidency (3.8% from the first quarter of 2014 to the first quarter of 2015) is higher than the best year-over-year growth under Trump (3.1% from the fourth quarter of 2017 to the fourth quarter of 2018).

When the facts aren’t in your favor, change the subject. Or move the goal posts.

[_honorentheos]

Of note more related to how this will impact people beyond political grand standing, economists generally agree that 2018's GDP was artificially inflated by the tax cuts which were sold as feeding economic growth over 4% in order to make up for the deficit in tax collection. No one seemed to believe this except the Fox News crowd, and the national debt is in record territory because Trump treated the US economy like a corporate raider might.

Forecasts are the US economy can expect +/-2% GDP growth, which is roughly where it was under Obama's leadership.

[_Kevin Graham]

This reminds me how Republicans played a shell game with the numbers on unemployment too.

When Obama was President, suddenly the only unemployment rate that mattered was the U6 because it was typically more than twice the number as the official unemployment rate. Then when Trump got elected, like magic, the Right Wing media stopped referencing the U6 and went back to the pre-Obama years of quoting the official rate.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

Welp.There you go. Trump has lived up to his word. He's running the gov like he runs businesses!

Is the economy's great? Well, with a $22T national debt that someone (not Trump) will have to pay back, why not?. Make great claims, run up a debt, bail, never pay it back. Check.

Tax breaks? Yup... for him and the rest of the wealthy super-minority. He sold a crap product to people, they bought it, it turns out to be more expensive and less useful than he claimed, people get mad, he shrugs, takes the money, repeat. Check.

I understand how a bunch of the rural population sided with an obviously corrupt billionaire. I do. They're poor and he's wealthy. $ ='s smarts dontcha know? What's crazy is how did anyone believe Trump would end corruption when he has been synonymous with decadence, avarice, and gaudiness for decades? Did they think a man known for greed and venality would suddenly be a moral and temperate man as he reached for the most powerful position in America? How was he going to "drain the swamp" by installing leading industrialists in key positions? Did people stop caring about dark money and PACs? Were they really not aware of this man's character? A regular on the HOWARD STERN PROGRAM for years?

In any case, Conservatives, your tax breaks and economic goals are won. You laud Trump for it, ignoring all of the criminality, ballooning debt, and immorality he displays. In this way, those two 'wins" are your 30 pieces of silver for continued acceptance of his betrayals.

Only now you're finding that, just like with other conmen, Trump has got you paying forty pieces of silver to get thirty back, and his betrayal is against you as well. Congrats. You played yourself and dragged us along with your foolishness. You've successfully cut off our nose to spite the libtard face, and I hope this "winning" does twice as much to you as you wanted it to do to the "libs."

- Doc