U.S. economy booms after Obama defeat

A month after America effectively rejected President Barack Obama’s party the nation’s economy was reported stronger Friday than it has been since the late 1990s.

And things have gone down hill, with one exception, since Republicans destroyed Democrats in a lightly attended off-year election.

Obama has had to deal with the Ferguson violence, ISIS decapitations, the Iraq collapse and a belligerent Russian dictator.

The only thing in Obama’s favor is a plunging world oil price, partly created by U.S. fracking. That price cut should make it a merrier Christmas, except in Russia, dependent on oil exports.
“When I saw this [jobs] report, I literally gasped,” said James Marple, a senior economist at TD Bank. “Over the last couple of months, I would say the American economy is reaching a real sweet spot. It’s exactly what we’ve been looking for and what we’ve been missing.”

The writing is on the Internet for the GOP. The growing minority population and improving economy could mean former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, or some other Democrat, will be elected president in 2016 and Republicans could lose control of both houses.

Obama hasn’t claimed credit because income disparity continues to grow. "Yes, our economy is growing, but we face an increasing divergence between those who have the skills that today's jobs require and those who don't," Obama said.

House Speaker John Boehner was having none of this good news. “While it's welcome news that more people found work last month, millions still remain out of work, and middle-class families across the country ... are struggling to get by on wages that haven't kept pace with rising costs," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

Republicans were critical of Obama because by some measures, China’s economy, has surpassed the U.S. as No. 1. Of course their population is more than four times larger, and environmental agreements Obama persuaded Beijing to sign will slow China much more than developed countries with already strict controls.

It will be interesting to see how Repubicans use their new power next year. The economy is almost always the most important political issue.

They have already handed Clinton the Benghazi gate.

They can fight Obama on immigration and delay appointments, particularly if a Supreme Court retires or dies.

Arizona Sen. John McCain will push his fellow Republicans to step up involvement in Iraq. That will hurt Republicans even more.

An “asymmetrical opponent,” as the Army likes to call ISIS, is not going to be defeated by troops on the ground, if it is defeated at all.

Washington Post

New York Times