The IMF Has Downgraded U.S. GDP To 1.6% For 2016. Economic Growth In The U.S. Is In The Crapper And Will Only Get Worse With Hillary

Hey, America. Suck it up you ingrates. You may think the economy is doing terribly, many of you have stopped looking for work, you haven't gotten a raise since forever, your health insurance premiums have skyrocketed, and you may not be seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

It's all in your heads, you unappreciative rubes . You just don't understand how great the economy really is and you can't comprendo how good you've had it during the Obama years because you're dumber than dirt. Forget the reality you experience every day of your lives. Real jobs are being created. A chicken is in every pot. Money is falling from the trees. You just have to know where to look.

Obama is finally leaving office and Hillary Clinton has had no choice but to peddle this nonsense to a skeptical public looking for genuine economic relief as the election approaches. And while Hillary is desperately trying to put lipstick on the Obama Economy Pig, her sales pitch just got a lot harder after the IMF released its GDP report on the state of the U.S. economy.

The latest economic reports show the great Obama economy is barely growing.

Oh, yeah. The IMF cut its economic outlook for the U.S. to 1.6 percent growth for 2016, down from the 2.2 percent estimate it projected just three months ago. The reason? Weak business investment and lower demand for goods.

"The U.S. economy has lost momentum over the past few quarters, and the expectation of a pickup in the second quarter of 2016 has not been realized."

The IMF also expressed growing concern over what the future holds - a slower expansion of the U.S. economy, a slowdown in corporate investment, and a gloomy growth outlook for the years ahead if the current policies aren't abandoned.

But Hillary is out there trying to convince Americans that everything is peachy keen. She insists that Obama's economic achievements have been grossly unappreciated because of the big mess he was handed when he took office in 2009 and she's doubling down on his disastrous fiscal policies.

To prop up her argument, Hillary likes to tout disingenuous numbers as part of her smoke and mirrors routine. On the surface, certain numbers look good - 5% unemployment, as compared to the 10 percent rate Obama inherited during the height of the Great Recession; a reduction in the deficit; and the stock market is booming.

But dig deeper and you’ll find the real story.

The deficit is falling because a Republican Congress has held the line on spending.

The market is up because the Fed has kept interest rates at rock-bottom levels so investors have nowhere else to go except to buy stocks.

And the unemployment numbers being thrown around are intentionally deceptive. That 5% number can be tossed around only because people have given up looking for jobs.

If you don't play games with numbers and accurately report how many people are out of work, the real unemployment rate - counting Americans who are out of work - is at 10%.

Here's an explanation Hillary would have to give you if she would actually stop playing hide-and-seek,  actually held a press conference, and was pressed on the issue: 

THE PUBLIC: Let's talk about the unemployment rate in America.
HILLARY: It's the lowest it's been in many years - 5%.
THE PUBLIC: That many people are out of work?
HILLARY: No, 10% of Americans are out of work.
THE PUBLIC: You just said 5%.
HILLARY: That's right. 5% Unemployed.
THE PUBLIC: Oh, OK - 5% are out of work.
HILLARY: No, that’s 10%.
THE PUBLIC: Okay, so 10% are unemployed.
HILLARY: No, that’s 5%.
THE PUBLIC: WAIT A MINUTE. Is it 5% or 10%?
HILLARY: 5% are unemployed.
THE PUBLIC: But, if you are out of work, aren't you unemployed?
HILLARY: No, we don't count the “Out of Work” as unemployed. You have to look for work to be unemployed.
THE PUBLIC: BUT THOSE WHO ARE OUT OF WORK ARE UNEMPLOYED!!!
HILLARY: No, you're missing the point.
THE PUBLIC: But ALL of them are out of work.
HILLARY: No, the unemployed are looking for work. Those who are out of work gave up looking. If you give up, you are no longer considered to be unemployed.
THE PUBLIC: So as more people stop looking for work because they cant find jobs, the unemployment rate goes down?'
HILLARY: The unemployment rate goes down. Absolutely!
THE PUBLIC: The unemployment rate goes down because you don’t look for work?
HILLARY:Absolutely. That’s how it gets to 5%. Otherwise it would be 10%.

Proof that the economy is in the tank is in the GDP pudding. The lack of any meaningful economic growth makes it impossible to deny that the Obama policies Hillary is pushing - increased taxes, over-regulation, Obamacare, and the disingenuous class warfare tactic - have wreaked havoc on the economy and on working and non-working Americans.

Because of this, Hillary has to put on a fake happy face when she tries to defend Obama's economy. She knows the Obama recovery is the most anemic in modern American history despite a disastrous stimulus plan, "shovel ready" jobs that were anything but, and a Fed that has been printing money as if there is no tomorrow.

But there is a tomorrow. And it's here today..

As weak as the Obama recovery has been things are only going to get worse if we continue down the path Obama has laid out for us. That is why Hillary has been anything but a fan of Obama's economic policies - until recently.

You have to walk a mile in Hillary's shoes to understand her dilemma. She's had a hard time deciding whether to embrace Obama's economy or criticize it during this election cycle. In fact, she was against his economic lunacy before she recently decided to be for it.

In effect, Hillary has had to abandon the economic recipe her hubby Bill used to create solid economic growth in the 1990's. Billy Boy replied on lower taxes and fewer regulations and it worked beautifully. Unfortunately, Trump and the GOP co-opted the lower taxes/less regulation market and that left Hillary in tough bind.

At the start of the 2016 campaign, Hillary was critical of Obama's policies. But she had to abandon that tact because Bernie Sanders was relentlessly attacking her from the left. Hillary had to fend off an increasingly worrisome primary candidacy by ol' Bernie, and in order to win over enough of his loony leftists she had no choice but to advocate for higher taxes, lots of free stuff, and a huge expansion of the welfare state.

Hillary also faced another problem that had her between a rock and a hard place. Hillary needs to acknowledge the reality that people are hurting but she must do so without directly attacking Obama for the crippled economy that's causing that pain. Distancing her from Obama only jeopardizes Hillary's support from a lot of people responsible for putting Obama in the White House. Without their votes, Hillary knows her ship will sink so she's having to walk a very perilous tightrope ... with no net beneath her.

So far it has worked to a certain extent as the public has been bamboozled. But the party is over. The election is approaching rapidly and people are starting to pay attention.

Americans may not like Trump, but they see him as someone who is a billionaire businessman who created wealth for himself while also creating thousands of jobs for the masses. Voters are willing to overlook a lot, even if they have to hold their nose as they contemplate pulling the lever for Trump,  especially if they believe he can make their economic lives better.

The latest GDP numbers reflect that the economy, and thus people's lives, are only getting considerably worse. That, along with Hillary's unfavorable ratings, are at the root of her evaporating poll numbers.

As I mentioned previously, it wasn't that long ago that Hillary had a dismal assessment of the U.S. economy after almost eight years of Obama's policies. During the primaries, she even told workers at a furniture plant in New Hampshire that the economy had stalled out:

"I want to be sure we get small businesses starting and growing in America again. We have stalled out. I was very surprised to see that when I began to dig into it. Because people were telling me this as I traveled around the country the last two years, but I didn't know what they were saying and it turns out that we are not producing as many small businesses as we use to."

 She closed by saying, "It's not enough just to tread water."

No it's not, Hillary. And now that you've flipped on the economy and plan to pursue Obama's failed policies, we may not even be lucky enough to tread water. We're going to sink.

No thanks.