Even as the U.S. economy teeters on the edge of what many experts believe will be a long, deep recession, the mainstream media continues its mission of insulating the Biden administration from criticism.
Bank of America, $BAC: “Economists have been talking about recession risks for more than a year now and yet it never seems to arrive. Is it time to throw in the towel? No. Consensus sees a 65% chance of a recession in the next 12 months, and [we] assume a similar probability.”
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) May 26, 2023
Most recently, CNN personality Abby Phillip attempted to convince viewers that their perception of the current economic situation is wrong.
The segment came during a discussion on Thursday evening with commentator Catherine Rampell, who offered a leftist revision of President Joe Biden’s track record thus far in his term.
Reacting to his rock-bottom approval rating, Rampell claimed: “Part of the reason why people seem to be so unhappy right now with the president of the United States has to do with economic conditions, which, by many measures, are actually quite good.”
Phillip was quick to echo that sentiment.
“Right,” she replied. “I was going to say this is the great irony, every day, it’s like, the economy is pretty good but people feel like their economic situation is unstable.”
Rampell escalated the partisan rhetoric even further by indirectly attacking Republican lawmakers who are urging for modest spending cuts in exchange for hiking the nation’s debt ceiling once again.
She acknowledged that American citizens “have good reason” to feel pessimism about their own financial future.
“Pricing pressures continue to grow,” she added. “And there are a number of reasons why people feel insecure. But, if people feel this insecure, people are this negative, or if people lack this much confidence in the president now, imagine how much worse things would get if we have a recession.”
Emphasizing her belief that a recession is not guaranteed, Rampell concluded: “But there are some worrying signs in the economy. Certainly, if we default on our debt I think we would have even bigger problems, but that’s what I’m concerned about.”
A survey of National Association of Business Economics forecasters in February determined that nearly three-fifths of respondents believed it was more likely than not that the U.S. economy would experience a recession this year.
As the House Ways and Means Committee argued in October, Biden deserves the blame for America’s descent into economic turmoil.
“President Biden has shrunk the economy and fueled inflation,” the panel wrote. “His $2 trillion partisan so-called stimulus paid workers more to stay at home than go to work, causing a labor shortage that’s harming Main Street and raising prices. His so-called Inflation Reduction Act will actually increase inflation, while raising taxes on Made-in-America manufacturers and working families.”
