On the eve of the election, in which Obama’s big-government-to-the-rescue agenda is on the ballot, the Commerce Department reports 3rd Quarter GDP growth of 2%, which the media is dutifully reporting as good news, with the storyline that “the car is out of the ditch, and Obama and Company are pushing it slowly up the hill.”
A little perspective is in order: For Quarter 2 of 2010 the Commerce Department’s initial GDP growth report was 2.4%, which was subsequently revised to 1.7% (over estimated by 40%? “missed it by that much”). Believing that the Quarter 3 2010 GDP growth is not similarly over estimated would require (what was that phrase?) a willing suspension of disbelief.
Am I implying that the Obama Commerce Department did whatever was necessary in the complex calculations of GDP to make sure that the pre-election reported estimate of GDP growth was NOT one point something (in the same way that the unemployment rate conveniently never reaches the toxic 10% mark)? NO, I’m not implying anything, I’m coming right out and saying that the Obama administration manipulated the numbers for political purposes. Will it help them? Not this time.
