Political Wire

GOP May Give Obama More Power on Trade

January 27, 2015 at 1:46 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 31 Comments

Washington Post: “Republicans have consistently railed at President Obama’s exercise of his executive authority, disparaging him as ‘an emperor’ who has ignored Congress on immigration, climate and Cuba. Now that they fully control the Congress, those same Republicans critics are on the verge of handing the president expansive new powers to circumvent those who want to stand in his way on trade.”

“GOP leaders in both chambers are close to introducing legislation that would grant the administration broad authority to finalize one of the largest free-trade pacts in the nation’s history. Lawmakers would not be allowed to amend the terms, and Congress would be required to hold a relatively quick up-or-down vote that could not be filibustered.”

The Burning Question

January 20, 2015 at 7:28 am EST By Taegan Goddard 16 Comments

Gerald Seib: “The next cycle in politics belongs to the party that can devise, articulate and implement a solution to today’s fundamental economic mystery, which is why the economy is growing but leaving wages stagnant, the middle class stuck and inequality on the rise. If we’re thinking either about the state of the union, or the state of the party, that’s the burning question.”

Romney Says He Was Beaten Because of Good Economy

January 13, 2015 at 2:05 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 67 Comments

Mitt Romney is now telling former supporters “that he came very close in the last election against an incumbent president with a good economy. He wouldn’t face an opponent with those kinds of advantages again,” according to Slate.

“Romney ran against Obama arguing that the economy was terrible; now its health in 2012 is part of the case why he should run again.”

The GOP Keeps Lying About the Economy

January 12, 2015 at 12:17 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 27 Comments

Daniel Gross: “For years Republicans have been spewing doomsday rhetoric about the president’s policies, but the stock market is booming, the deficit shrinking, the economy adding lots of jobs and the dollar robust.”

“Virtually everything GOP critics have told us would follow from the policies put in place has not come to pass. You would think that this would occasion a few mea culpas, some rethinking, an admission of poor prognostication. But, alas, it continues. Rep. Paul Ryan is now warning in a column that Obamacare ‘is weighing down our economy and discouraging hiring’ and will ultimately ‘collapse under its own weight.’

Unemployment Rate Falls to 5.6%

January 9, 2015 at 8:34 am EST By Taegan Goddard 56 Comments

The U.S. economy added 252,000 jobs last month while the unemployment rate dipped to 5.6%, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Wonk Wire: Standard of living index reaches new high

McConnell Takes Credit for Improving Economy

January 8, 2015 at 10:12 am EST By Taegan Goddard 52 Comments

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) claimed the economy is improving because Americans know Republicans are in control of Capitol Hill.

Said McConnell: “After so many years of sluggish growth, we’re finally starting to see some economic data that can provide a glimmer of hope; the uptick appears to coincide with the biggest political change of the Obama administration’s long tenure in Washington: the expectation of a new Republican Congress. So this is precisely the right time to advance a positive, pro-growth agenda.”

First Read: “So after years of making President Obama and Democrats own the state of the economy, McConnell is now taking credit for the improving — two days into his new job? And based on the expectation that the GOP was going to take over the Senate? If anything, this is a reminder that the Republican Party realizes that — if the economy continues to get better and better — they can’t allow Obama to get all of the credit. Oh, and we get a new monthly jobs report tomorrow.”

Warren Attacks Republicans and Democrats

January 7, 2015 at 2:54 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 70 Comments

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) delivered a stinging critique of Republicans and Democrats alike in a speech “that said policies pushed by both parties have created financial hardships for everyday families while further enriching a narrow sliver of Americans,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said Warren: “Pretty much the whole Republican Party—and, if we’re going to be honest, too many Democrats—talked about the evils of ’big government’ and called for deregulation. It sounded good, but it was really about tying the hands of regulators and turning loose big banks and giant international corporations to do whatever they wanted to do—turning them loose to rig the markets and reduce competition, to outsource more jobs, to load up on more risks and hide behind taxpayer guarantees, to sell more mortgages and credit cards that cheated people. In short, to do whatever juiced short-term profits even if it came at the expense of working families.”

Political Dysfunction Is Now Top Ranking Issue

January 3, 2015 at 9:16 am EST By Taegan Goddard 9 Comments

A new Gallup survey finds that concerns over the functioning of government tops the list of America’s concerns, beating out the economy.

2014 was also the first year since 2007 that the economy was not the top ranking issue.

Oil Rich States Brace for Tough Times

December 27, 2014 at 10:00 am EST By Taegan Goddard 51 Comments

“States dependent on oil and gas revenue are bracing for layoffs, slashing agency budgets and growing increasingly anxious about the ripple effect that falling oil prices may have on their local economies,” the New York Times reports.

“The concerns are cutting across traditional oil states like Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Alaska as well as those like North Dakota that are benefiting from the nation’s latest energy boom.”

Obama Approval Should Rise as Economy Improves

December 27, 2014 at 7:00 am EST By Taegan Goddard 49 Comments

“When will the improving American economy translate into higher approval ratings for President Obama? It will take time. But if recent trends continue, Mr. Obama’s political standing is likely to strengthen,” Brendan Nyhan reports.

“The lesson of history is that Mr. Obama will get credit if growth continues, but we should not be surprised if public opinion lags objective measures of the economy… We can see this process of the public starting to notice improvements in the economy in recent survey data.”

Write political scientists Peter Enns and Gregory McAvoy: “For the most part, public opinion does not react instantaneously to changes in economic information. It takes time for economic news to make its way from government reports into news reports so that ordinary citizens can absorb and respond to this information.”

Obama Hopes to Partner with GOP on New Trade Deals

December 26, 2014 at 1:32 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 12 Comments

“President Obama is preparing a major push on trade that seeks to enlist Republicans as partners and test his premise that Washington can still find common ground on major initiatives, even after he angered the GOP with a recent slew of executive actions,” the Washington Post reports.

“It also will test his willingness to buck his own party in pursuit of a legacy-burnishing achievement. Already, Obama is facing fierce blowback from fellow Democrats, who are accusing him of abandoning past promises on trade and potentially undermining his domestic priority of reducing income inequality.”

Strong Economy Could Shake Up Political Strategy

December 25, 2014 at 8:42 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 13 Comments

“After years of muddling along, the U.S. economy appears to be breaking into a sprint that could alter the political landscape heading into 2015 and beyond,” Politico reports.

“The latest evidence of strength came in a report on Tuesday showing growth expanded at a robust 5 percent pace in the third quarter of 2014, the fastest speed in over a decade. The news helped drive the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 18,000 for the first time ever in a bull market charge that began six years ago and shows no signs of slowing.”

Economy Grew at 5% Last Quarter

December 23, 2014 at 8:38 am EST By Taegan Goddard 30 Comments

“The U.S. economy posted its strongest growth in more than a decade during the third quarter, supported by robust consumer spending and business investment,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the economy, grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.0% in the third quarter… That was up from the second quarter’s growth rate of 4.6% and the strongest pace since the third quarter of 2003.”

Bailouts Actually Yielded $15 Billion in Profits

December 20, 2014 at 10:41 am EST By Taegan Goddard 35 Comments

“Six years after President George W. Bush began the auto bailout, the Obama administration on Friday declared a profitable end to the sweeping federal interventions in Wall Street and Detroit, saying a final sale of stock from General Motors’ former finance arm had closed a turbulent chapter of the financial crisis, the New York Times reports.

“The government actions, initially seen as necessary in Washington and on Wall Street to prevent a collapse of the economy on the order of the Great Depression, agitated the political world, helping give rise to the Tea Party movement on the right and the Occupy Wall Street movement on the left.”

“In all, through TARP and other efforts, taxpayers injected $426.35 billion into banks and auto companies. The sale of stock and interest payments brought in $441.7 billion.”

Democrats Not Sure How to Take Credit for Economy

December 16, 2014 at 6:43 am EST By Taegan Goddard 24 Comments

“Democrats would like some credit for the run of good economic news. Yet the better those reports are, the more divided the party has become over how — even whether — to take any,” the New York Times reports.

“In one camp are Democrats who argue that if they do not take some credit, they will continue to receive little. Others counter that boasting would backfire, infuriating millions of Americans who do not see the economy improving for them or their children.”

“Many, including President Obama, fall in the middle: still seeking to strike some balance, more than five years after the recovery officially began, between extolling progress and recognizing the pain that lingers.”

Strong Jobs Report to End Year

December 5, 2014 at 8:35 am EST By Taegan Goddard 49 Comments

Wonk Wire: The U.S. economy added 321,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate held at 5.8%.

Could Falling Gas Prices Shake Up American Politics?

December 3, 2014 at 9:16 am EST By Taegan Goddard 15 Comments

First Read: “It’s possible — though hardly a certainty — that lower gas prices over a sustained period of time finally begin to change the public’s perception about the U.S. economy. After all, the economy has produced 200,000-plus jobs in each of the past nine months; GDP for the last quarter was revised up to a healthy 3.9%; and the unemployment rate has declined from 7.0% in Nov. 2013 to 5.8% now. But many Americans haven’t been FEELING that improvement, due in large part to wages not keeping up with the cost of living.”

“Politically, an improving economy helps the president and his party. (It also makes it harder to say the health-care law has stifled the economy.) And in macroeconomic terms, lower gas prices serve as a kind of economic stimulus — which Congress doesn’t have to pass or finance. Yet more importantly, they’re an easier way for Americans to ASSESS the state of the economy. The monthly jobs report might not mean a thing to them, but they can see when it costs just $35 to $40 to fill up their tank each week when it used to cost $50. ”

Wonk Wire: Plummeting costs make renewable power a viable competitor

Fastest Economic Growth in More Than a Decade

November 25, 2014 at 12:03 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 30 Comments

“The economy expanded at its fastest pace in more than a decade during the spring and summer, showing the U.S. sits on a solid foundation despite increasing global uncertainty,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the economy, grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.9% in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. The agency had previously estimated the third quarter’s growth rate at 3.5%.”

Wonk Wire: Is the era of rock bottom economics over?