The Press Is Still Sabotaging Biden's Historic Economy
How can it be that millions of people think we're in a recession in the middle of an economic boom unless the press is doing it on purpose?
The Opinionated Ogre is 100% reader-supported. Please help me continue to inform/amuse/outrage you by becoming a supporting subscriber today for only $5 a month or just $50 a year!
It’s no secret that the press spent the last three years trying to manifest a recession. If they could convince enough people that the economy was actually collapsing, it would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. People would spend less, sales would go down, jobs would be lost, and the vicious cycle would kick in.
Then, the press could point the finger at President Joe Biden and screech at the failures of his economic policies. A lot of this had to do with dragging Biden down for the election. A president with a strong economy is a president with a huge advantage. But a bad economy? That’s an albatross.
Part of it, though, had to do with discrediting Biden’s policies in general. The press talks a big game about freedom and democracy and prosperity but the second the left puts policies in place that help millions and improve the economy? The press discovers its inner Ayn Rand.1
That’s how, in the middle of the strongest economy since the end of WWII, a record-breaking low unemployment streak, a surge in union activity, a historic boom in manufacturing returning after 40+ years of offshoring, and steady wage growth, this is a real headline in the Washington Post: “Americans are down on the economy (again), with inflation topping election concerns.”
The Guardian gets in on the action as well: “Majority of Americans wrongly believe US is in recession – and most blame Biden.” The Guardian at least points out that the public is wrong right there in the headline. Most American publications would gouge their eyes out first.
But how is it that the public is so disconnected from reality? And how disconnected are they? To answer the second question, extremely disconnected:
Just to make this chart clear: An overwhelming majority of the country (72%) feels their own personal financial situation is decent. But they think the country’s economy is just fucking awful. Only 22% of Americans think the economy is doing well.
Again, we are in the middle of an economy that any president would sacrifice their kidney for. Trump is so mad about Biden’s economy, that he keeps trying to take credit for it while simultaneously claiming it’s terrible. Does that make any sense? No, but the right has fully adopted 1984’s doublethink where the base can hold two diametrically opposed ideas in their befuddled minds and believe both to be true at the same time. To them, the economy is both collapsing because Biden is the worst president ever and soaring as a result of Trump’s amazing economic wizardry.
The press has only focused on the “collapsing” part for so long, that’s all the public really thinks about. Even as the economy boomed, and a real boom, not a bubble, the press has gone to great lengths to underreport it.
I keep mentioning this but it’s important. It’s impossible to overstate how much praise the press lavished on Trump whenever he made an announcement about opening a new factory and “creating” a few hundred jobs. The stock market went up? My god! Trump is unstoppable! An economic master!
This went on for years even as it was increasingly obvious that Trump was using the Fed to inflate the numbers. That he had depleted our arsenal for dealing with a recession in order to artificially inflate the economy when it didn’t need it. And the results were mid, at best. Prior to Covid, Trump’s jobs numbers were…OK. Nothing special. He had seven (non-consecutive) months of job growth under 100K and thirteen months under 200K (too low to keep up with population growth) and, again, that was before Covid.
The press still slobbered over Trump and his “miraculous” stock market, though. It was embarrassing. This was praise they had not heaped upon Obama even though he was the one who had put the recovery in motion that Trump was benefitting from. More importantly, the press suddenly stopped talking about the stock market when Biden became president.
It’s really important to understand this. Covid and everything that followed caused the stock market and the economy to go boom. Trump and his regime of fucking morons had no idea what to do or how to fix it. Biden and his administration filled with extremely competent people did and turned things around within months.
The economy was stable within a year and has been wildly growing ever since. The stock market has hit new highs, something the press used to think was a sure sign of a great president and a strong economy. Now? Have you heard about Biden’s age? Did you know college kids are protesting? Hey, what’s Trump up to today? STOP LOOKING AT THE STOCK MARKET! IT’S NOT IMPORTANT!
As always, I have to remind you that the stock market is not reflective of the health of the economy. The two have a distant relationship, at best. But the press was very clear that under Trump, the stock market was a crucial piece of economic data showing how well Trump was performing. Today, despite record-breaking numbers, it’s hardly worth mentioning.
This is why so much of the country thinks we’re in a recession. Not because of inflation, which is down while wages have been growing for the last three years. But because the right-wing media has been screaming it nonstop and the mainstream press has gone along with the lie, amplifying it as much as possible.
Here’s the Guardian again:
55% believe the economy is shrinking, and 56% think the US is experiencing a recession, though the broadest measure of the economy, gross domestic product (GDP), has been growing.
49% believe the S&P 500 stock market index is down for the year, though the index went up about 24% in 2023 and is up more than 12% this year.
49% believe that unemployment is at a 50-year high, though the unemployment rate has been under 4%, a near 50-year low.
It’s impossible for people to be this misinformed about the economy unless the press was actively misinforming them. Or, at the very least, going out of its way to not counter right-wing propaganda and letting it spread on purpose.
The Washington Post, however, did more than misinform people. They straight-up lied:
That pessimism is altering consumers’ spending habits. McDonald’s, Home Depot, Under Armour and Starbucks all recently reported disappointing earnings, as people cut back on fast food, kitchen renovations, sneakers and afternoon lattes.
....Employers are adding fewer jobs, wage growth has decelerated, and Americans are holding off on big purchases like homes, cars and washing machines.
Kevin Drum points out that we can check overall consumer spending to see if the Post’s claim that spending is down is true or not.
Surprise! It’s not.
Come on, folks. Do we have to keep doing this? Nobody has to guess at consumer buying habits by looking at fast food, kitchen renovations, sneakers or afternoon lattes. Why? Because every month the government publishes a nice, tidy summary of all consumer spending. Here it is through March:
It gets worse:
And guess what? The government also publishes lots of other handy statistics! I'll spare you the charts, but real wage growth has been up steadily; home sales are down from their 2021 boom year but have increased lately; auto sales are up and have been steady lately; and durable goods consumption is up. Inflation has been hovering around 3% for an entire year, which is not especially dire. Hell, even consumer sentiment, which sparked this article in the first place, has been steadily up except for the single month of May—so it's a little early to be pretending there's some kind of downward trend.
So knowing all of that, one has to ask why the Washington Post is blatantly lying to the public. But we kind of know, don’t we?
Trump’s campaign is still flailing. Every headline for him is bad, even as the press works nonstop to downplay the bad news. His court case is almost over and, at best, will result in a hung jury. At worst, Trump will be a convicted felon by the summer. His brain is rotting (without a worm eating it, no less!) and he’s gone full Nazi. His own party has no faith that Trump will win.
The Clearest Sign Yet That Trump Is Losing
There are still over five months left to the election and Biden keeps being a super jerk about the whole thing by not having any scandals. How is that fair?!
The only solution for a press addicted to the horse race is to drag Biden down while normalizing Trump’s increasingly aberrant behavior. Also, let’s not kid ourselves, Trump is great for the media business and Biden…isn’t. So, really, it’s Biden’s fault the press keeps lying to the public about the state of the economy.
I’d really rather not have to keep writing about this for the rest of the year but the press openly working against American democracy on behalf of Trump (and their own bottom line) is dangerous. We can’t just ignore it and hope for the best. Once we get through this, again, we have to hold them accountable for what they’re doing. I don’t know what that looks like but we need to figure it out because if the press is throwing in with fascists, we need to respond accordingly.
There are 166 days until the 2024 election. Vote blue like your life depends on it.
I hope you feel better informed about the world and ready to kick fascists in the teeth to protect it. This newsletter exists because of you, so please consider becoming a supporting subscriber today for only $5 a month or just $50 a year. Thank you for everything!
For a prime example of this, see the press’ shameful reporting on Obamacare or Hillary’s attempt at healthcare reform in the 90s.
All of the factors you mention appear valid. As while the motivation the create a horserace and keep things close )and profitable for them) as long as possible explains some of the WP, NYT, and other MSM clearly slanted coverage, have you considered the effects of the IRS's fully-funded enforcement division and the focus on the many uber-rich who have simply refused to file tax returns for years? The impending visit from IRS tax enforcement must have the owners of these MSM entities (and their 800+ billionaire buddies) in a lather over the cheek of the Biden Adminustration's effort to enforce the law against them - as if they were the "little people" who Ms. Helmsley told us decades ago are the only ones who pay taxes. Oxes are about to be gored - and this time it isn't us. "When you are accustomed to privilege, being treated equally feels like oppression."
BEST ARTICLE OF THE DAY! Justin….🎯🎯🎯🎯 I’ve re-Stacked this and will reference it as much as possible. These are the facts that include Katie-Porteresque charts! Love it! The lies put out by the media are intentional and the very reason the ultra right billionaires bought out most of the media. Another reason to clear out the corporate Democrats along with the corrupt rescumliCon party. We also need to put these facts out instead of perpetually giving attention to trump’s stunts. We need to keep an eye on him but we also need to acknowledge Biden’s historic successes. (And maybe talk to his admin about a more appropriate response to Netanyahu!)