White House rallies around 'not inevitable' line as recession fears grow | Washington Examiner
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The White House has spent the last few days repeating that a recession is "not inevitable" despite economists and most people seeming to think the economy is headed that way.
President Joe Biden, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have all repeated in recent days that a recession isn't imminent while touting positive aspects of the economy.
"First of all, it's not inevitable," Biden told the Associated Presslast week. "Secondly, we're in a stronger position than any nation in the world to overcome this inflation."
The president followed that up Monday morning by saying he'd spoken with former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who himself is predicting a recession, and repeating that "there's nothing inevitable about a recession."
Deese said during a Sunday appearance on CBS's Face the Nation that "not only is a recession not inevitable, but I think that a lot of people are underestimating those strengths and the resilience of the American economy." He pointed to increased household savings and low numbers of people skipping credit card and mortgage payments as evidence.
The same day, Yellen told ABC News, "I don't think a recession is at all inevitable," while conceding that the economy is likely to slow going forward and that inflation is unacceptably high.
Despite the trio's words, a recent poll found that more than 60% of CEOs globally said they expect a recession before the end of 2023, which echoes the prediction made by Summers.
A recession is generally defined as two consecutive quarters of negative gross domestic product growth. The first quarter of 2022 has already been deemed negative, so a recession could be confirmed when second-quarter numbers are released next month. For this reason, many pundits say the R-word is already upon us.
"We're already in recession," said conservative economist Stephen Moore. "The last six months of growth has been negative. The ship is capsizing, and the captain is saying everything is all right rather than getting the life jackets on. Employment may go negative in the next few months due to hiring freezes and layoffs. Housing sales have come to a standstill."
It's always up for debate how much influence any president has over the economy. Nonetheless, presidents often take credit for economic growth and take blame from voters when it slows. Biden's job approval rating on the economy is just 34%, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average.
Yet Biden continues to insist that a recession may not be in the cards — and he persists in downplaying those who say it's likely.
"No, the majority of them aren't saying that," the president said Monday in a response to a question about a recession being "more likely than ever."
"Don't make things up," he continued. "Now you sound like a Republican politician. That's a joke — that was a joke."
The odds of a recession have surged to 72%, according to Bloomberg Economics models, as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates to counter inflation. The Fed announced last week that it would hike its benchmark interest rate by 0.75%, marking the largest single increase since 1994.
Despite the growing fears, or perhaps because of them, Democratic strategist Brad Bannon feels it's important for the White House to reassure the public of the economy's strengths.
"Most Americans do believe we're in a recession now, and if we're not, I think it's good for the administration to say that," he said. "It may not impress a lot of people, but the unemployment rate is ridiculously low. There are a lot of good things happening with the economy."
Biden is still trying to get some of his agenda through Congress, such as efforts to lower prescription drug prices, provide tax incentives to reduce utility bills, and raise taxes on corporations. Bannon says working to get such a deal passed and talking about it are the most important things the president can do now to help his standing with voters in November.
"It will all depend on what the economy looks like," he said of the midterm elections. "If we're in a serious recession, obviously it's going to hurt the Democrats."
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I guess Biden has to say all that despite many experts saying otherwise.
After all, when he told us that inflation was just temporary, did he mean for a couple of years or so?
Biden looks like a man without a clue, and his handlers aren't helping.
Only 5 more months until the midterms and a reduction in the power the Democratic Party now holds.
Thank God!
Unfortunately we will still have two more years to deal with Biden and his fellow morons that he appointed.
The dumbasses are still pushing BBB or some version of it--all calling for massive govt. spending, which is one of the reasons inflation is so high now.
Today he lost his temper with a reporter who asked if the recession was coming.
Did you catch that?
Haven't seen it, but will look for it.
You know the tough questions (and there seem to be few) always throws the President off if the potential answer isn't in his script.
He's been in a bad mood lately....his anger even unleashed on the AP.
I found it.
Pitiful display by the President.
Maybe the 'r' word is verboten now?
I don't blame him for being in a bad mood lately.
Inflation running rampant, couldn't get his big-ticket legislation pushed through despite a Democratic-controlled Congress, war raging in Ukraine despite Joe singlehandedly saving and uniting NATO, a VP who is basically worthless now that the election is over, hordes of folks crossing the border--many illegally, his poll numbers crumbling before his very eyes, a dark outlook for the party he leads in the coming midterms, and infighting among Democrats, some of whom don't even want him to run again.
Yeah, I bet his handlers are pissed as hell.
It's amazing how protected he is by the press. The inability to speak coherently, the refusal to be questioned and the constant temper tantrums were all things Bush or Trump were hammered for. Biden not only displays but amplifies all of these criticized traits of Republican Presidents and the media just looks the other way.
It won't be long. Those who protected him, will have to take him down. They can't let him be the nominee and they are taking hits every time he speaks....
Even with the idiot cards:
When we do go onto recession, how long before Joe blames it all on Putin?
And how long will the lie be pushed?
Does he realize voters are not buying his spin?
All depends on when. If recession holds off until next year he'll have a brand-new ready made excuse of a Republican Congress that is thwarting his every move to combat it. In Democrat circles that's a win. (oh boy)
But independents won't swallow that swill, thankfully.
And another indicator of a potential recession has come in...
Joe and his handlers should be getting their "why a recession is not really a bad thing" speech ready for when second-quarter numbers are released next month.
Well, the good news is that when we service our $21T in public held US debt, we will be paying with dollars worth less than those we previously borrowed. If we continue running in this direction, maybe we can inflate our way out of debt.
The second biggest indicator of Recession?
New Housing sales... They have come to a virtual halt at this point, More people are making the decision not to buy than those that are... Cause they realize that if we do go into recession housing prices will crash as demand dries up... In fact big ticket items will all crash and burn...
Not because people don't have the money to buy, because they do have more than enough to buy and now have the time to pick the most value for the bucks they do have and can afford to wait for it to come....
Dumping money into an economy is a very short term fix, the people that want to dump even more at this point have to be hoping to crash the economy....
Cause that is what it's going to do... At this point they could bump interest rates to 12% and it still won't stop it from happening... (in fact that would bring it about quicker at this point)
Those huge cash dumps triggered inflation and set us on a course to a hard recession as inflation forces people to slow purchasing and conserve money...
This was as predictable as the sun rises in the east each morning...
My conclusion, it was part of the democrat plan to makeover American society all along....
It's worse than that. Most young couples can't afford a house anymore. I'm one who thinks those housing prices need to crash!