The Washington Post appears to be campaigning particularly hard for the Democrats now that we're less than two months away from the upcoming November midterms. Like President Joe Biden and his administration, the outlet wants you to believe that the economy is actually doing fine. That must be why they recently published Abha Bhattari's piece on how "Americans are finally feeling better about the economy." As our friends at Twitchy aptly put it, "WaPo carries more water than USUAL."
Bhattari addresses how gas prices have fallen, which are still much higher than when former President Donald Trump was in office. The way in which she mentions inflation, though, is done in quite the particular way, in that Americans "are more resigned" to it.
As she also mentions in her second paragraph, "Americans are making small changes — buying meat in bulk, for example, or shifting more of their shopping to discount chains — suggesting that many families are learning to deal with higher prices."
Americans shouldn't have to be "learning to deal with" it though, especially when they can vote in new members who will hold Biden more accountable. In just a couple of paragraphs later, Bhattari brings up the White House. "That’s particularly good news for the White House, which has been hammered by criticism that it hasn’t done enough to address inflation," she goes on to write.
While the piece does mention Jack Foote of California whose fears about the economy have him working longer for the Los Angeles Unified School District rather than retire, the piece otherwise speaks to those who are feeling better. Anecdotal evidence and commentary from so-called experts is now supposed to make readers feel overall better about the economy.
Bhattari even finds a way to spin polling:
Although inflation is still a top priority for U.S. voters in the run-up to the midterm elections, the share of Americans who say it is their biggest concern has fallen. Some 30 percent of Americans say rising prices are their No. 1 voting issue, down from 37 percent in July, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.
No matter that the amount of those who say inflation has fallen from 37 percent to 30 percent as their top issue, it still remains the top issue. In second place is those who say abortion is their top voting issue, at 22 percent.
It gets worse from there, though, as this poll dumps cold water all over Bhattari's entire argument.
That same poll also shows the Republican Party with a double digit lead when it comes to which party Americans think will do a better job on the economy. While 39 percent say the Republican Party will do a better job, just 26 percent say so about the Democratic Party.
Additionally, over half of respondents, at 57 percent, say that the nation's economy has been "weakened" by President Biden's actions, while 34 percent say his actions have "strengthened" it.
Further, nearly twice as many respondents, at 62 percent, say we are in a recession, while 32 percent say we are not. That does not sound like
Polling overall shows that most Americans don't hold such delusional ideas about the state of the economy. RealClearPolitics' average shows that 38.4 percent approve of Biden's handling of the economy, while 58.6 percent disapprove.
One particular poll worth highlighting is a CNBC poll from July. Just 1 percent said the economy was in "excellent" condition, while 10 percent said it was "good." A majority, at 58 percent, said it's poor.
The Saturday publication of Bhattari's piece is quite timely, as the August Consumer Price Index (CPI) report will be released on Tuesday morning.