There’s no economic recovery, so say two indicators:
- New home sales
- Median or typical U.S. household income
1. New Home Sales
An indicator of economic recovery is the health of the U.S. housing market, and the news is not good.
Erin Carlyle reports for Forbes, July 24, 2014, that sales of newly constructed homes fell by 8.1% (seasonally adjusted) in June compared to the prior month, according to Thursday’s U.S. Commerce Department report. Sales fell in all four regions, most dramatically in the Northeast, which saw a 20% drop from the prior month.
Worse still, compared to June of last year, new home sales actually went down 11.5%.
The median sales price of a new house sold in June 2014 was $273,500.
Housing economists point out that underlying economic factors–below average growth in median household income, labor force participation, bank lending and household formation–may be stalling the housing recovery.
2. Median U.S. Household Income
Anna Bernasek reports for the New York Times, July 26, 2014
Median U.S. household income is the figure for a “typical” household at the median point in the wealth distribution — half of U.S. households have incomes higher than the median figure; half of U.S. households have incomes lower.
The inflation-adjusted net worth for the median U.S. household was $87,992 in 2003. Ten years later, it was only $56,335, or a 36% decline, according to a study financed by the Russell Sage Foundation.
Yesterday, July 25, 2014, senior White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer, who has been with the POS since 2009, told the Christian Science Monitor that after the summer, Obama will go ahead with a “very significant” executive action on immigration.
Pfeiffer even taunted Republicans, saying “The president acting on immigration reform will certainly up the likelihood that [Republicans] would contemplate impeachment at some point.”
But House Speaker John Boehner (R), via his spokesman Michael Steel, responded to Pfeiffer’s impeachment comments by calling them a “political game.” Boehner said, “It is telling, and sad, that a senior White House official is focused on political games, rather than helping these kids and securing the border.”
The GOP maintains that Obama has encouraged the influx of “unaccompanied minors” from Central America when he, in 2012, signed a memo authorizing deferred action on the deportation of certain children of illegal immigrants – the so-called “DREAMers.”
Indeed, the POS is doing exactly that — using talk of impeachment as political fuel to inflame Demonrats.
Kellan Howell reports for the Washington Times, July 26, 2014
In a bid to bring in more campaign cash, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent an email to “useful idiot” donors for contributions to defend their president from an “imminent impeachment.” The email reads: “The White House announced yesterday that Boehner’s lawsuit could lead to the impeachment of President Obama”!
Never mind that Boehner had already rejected impeachment, and is instead pursuing the path of a lawsuit.
According to a new CNN/ORC International poll released yesterday, one-third of Americans (33%) think Barack Obama should be impeached and removed from office, but 65% say they don’t support impeachment.
Americans who favor impeachment include 57% of Republicans, 35% of independent voters, and even 13% of Democrats!
See also:
~Eowyn