There's Never Been a President This Unpopular With an Economy This Good

[DonViejo]

Source: Bloomberg News


By Alexandre Tanzi and Rich Miller

September 12, 2018, 4:00 AM EDT

‘Circus in Washington’ seen drowning out good economic news

Trump’s unpopularity poses problems for Republican candidates

President Donald Trump’s unpopularity is unprecedented given the strength of the economy.

That’s according to a Bloomberg analysis of polling data. It shows that Trump is the first U.S. leader dating back to at least Ronald Reagan whose approval rating is consistently low and lagging consumers’ favorable assessment of the economy.

“There’s a huge disconnect,” said Karlyn Bowman, a senior fellow and public opinion polling expert at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank based in Washington. “The economy doesn’t seem to be dominating in a way that it often does in elections.”

That’s a big problem for Republicans as they try to maintain control of Congress. White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney acknowledged as much last week, telling Republican backers in a private meeting that they needed to get voters to focus on the economy and not on Trump in November, according to the New York Times.



Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-12/trump-is-more-unpopular-than-any-president-with-a-strong-economy

[Sunny Daze]

1. He's still basking in Obama's economy

Give him enough time and his will be a total mess.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. THIS

(perhaps this is being acknowledged by the "average" American)

[patricia92243]

11. Bingo!

[C Moon]

13. That's for sure.

[duforsure]

2. With what he's doing to our economy

Taking trillions out of it to enrich the super wealthy, and hurt the rest of us from it, expect it to tank , and maybe sooner than they think. The markets will catch up to it , then start exposing HIS economy to his supporters, and they're not going to like it , just like they hated it from what W did to it. This will be even worse than the W disaster.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

21. Not just the, "markets", will catch up, but interest on debt...

... as inflation continues and wages stay flat, it is inevitable. Credit card debt is up since the second quarter. That is where the spending is that harpy the economist was so thrilled about the other day at the press conference.

[Ohiogal]

3. I beg to differ about the "great economy"....

It's only great if you're a CEO or otherwise wealthy. For most working poor or middle class, wages have been stagnant, healthcare is unaffordable, student loans are crushing, and it seems impossible to get ahead.

[Recursion]

6. Not really. 2015 and 2016 saw the largest wage gains on record

And they were disproportionately at the bottom end of the scale. The poorest two quintiles have seen faster growth rates than the two above them (which may itself explain why Trump is more popular with people making more than $50K than with people making less than $50K).

Now, the past year has seen inflation eat up some of those wage gains (thank you, trade war), but we're still above where we were in 2014 by a good bit.

[DinahMoeHum]

8. They don't mean shit if you don't have a steady job.

Just sayin'

[LakeSuperiorView]

9. Trump wasn't president in 2015 and 2016...

Even if this is true, it's not relevant to Trump.

[Bengus81]

12. Most normal jobs around here are NOT paying $50k per year.........

And wages are stagnant. When Micky D's can STILL get away with paying minimum wage then no there is NOT a booming economy. That phony tax cut means literately nothing in the pockets of most working class while gas prices are UP .60 per gallon here since Trump took office.

[Mad-in-Mo]

14. This is what I experience too --- and can't

make anyone else see it.

[bearsfootball516]

4. The economy is the only thing keeping his approval rating out of the low 30s.

If it was to start sagging, he'd lose the support of the people who don't really like him, but are sticking with him because they like the economy.

[turbinetree]

5. And then there is the 2.0 Tax Cut that Ayn Rand Ryan crowd

are getting ready to shove down the poor and middle class........................get ready for the two Santa Claus theory that right wing Paul "ayn rand" Ryans of the worlds are going to enact.....................they want to go after Medicare and Social Security, and just blow the deficit all to hell, and then come out that ( I hate the word) "entitlement spending" is the problem....................

House plans to vote on second phase of tax cuts this month, Paul Ryan says

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tax-cuts-20180905-story.html#

[BigRig]

10. Yes, and when the economy fails yet again because of their stupid ass trickle down propaganda,

they will just blame it on Obama and get re-elected. Rinse and repeat

[DownriverDem]

16. I doubt it

We the people are paying attention and we know that trump will be blamed.

[DownriverDem]

15. It's not that good

Yes, folks have jobs, but their wages are low.

[Baitball Blogger]

17. I don't know why they keep saying that we have a great economy.

I keep hearing about lay-offs, closing of stores, or companies cutting back on policies that benefit employees.

I think that we don't keep track of the numbers that show the real picture.

[lagomorph777]

20. We have a great economy for Billionaires. Everybody else can pound sand.

[Recursion]

18. This applies to 2016 too: nobody ever successfully ran a "change" election with an economy that good

It was a large part of why political operatives were blindsided: the theory that people vote their pocketbooks seems to be wrong.

The more interesting part is that people who are objectively doing better than they ever have been can still be manipulated into thinking they're miserable.

[lagomorph777]

19. Billionaires are doing great in the Billionaire Economy. Nobody else gives a shit.

We see what's really going on; Trump and the Russiapublicans are robbing us blind.

[GulfCoast66]

22. The above average middle class workers are doing well.

They have enough assets that 1-2% wage growth average translates to 4-6% for many of them.

It is the working poor, many who consider themselves middle class that an economy like ourscannot help.

Strong safety nets, good affordable health care and post HS education and pensions is what they need. And are not getting.

My wife and I are middle class but make way over the 61K average and we got a big tax cut which is just fucked up policy. We should be paying more along with those that make more than us to insure the economy works for everyone.

That is what we are voting for.

We often talk about the 1% and indeed they are getting the lions share. But the top 1/3 of workers are doing really well. Unfortunately they vote and vote overwhelmingly Republican.