The Hub of Politics

Cross-posted at RedState.

Ever wonder why the Democrats and the Media (but I repeat myself) don't seem to talk about the economy much anymore? Well, maybe it's because of things like this:

The economy sprang out of a year-end rut and zipped ahead in the opening quarter of this year at a 5.6 percent pace, the fastest in 2 1/2 years and even stronger than previously thought.

I blame Bush.

The new snapshot of gross domestic product for the January-to-March period exceeded the 5.3 percent growth rate estimated a month ago, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The upgraded reading -- based on more complete information -- matched economists' forecasts.

The stronger GDP figure mostly reflected an improvement in the country's trade deficit, which was much less of a drag than previously estimated.

With that out of the way, and with this being an AP piece, the bulk of the story is about how, in spite of this robust growth:

Fresher barometers, however, suggest the economy is shifting into a lower gear in the current quarter.

and...

In a separate report, the Labor Department said that new claims filed for unemployment benefits last week rose by 4,000 to 313,000 -- a bit more than economists were expecting.

while...

Economists predict that economic growth in the April-to-June quarter probably slowed to a pace of around 2.5 percent to 3 percent.

leaving the horrible impression that...

the economy will have registered a seesaw-like pattern of growth in the last few quarters.

Because, of course, good news simply cannot be allowed to stand on it's own - when there's a Republican in the White House, that is.

President Bush, coping with low job-approval ratings, hopes Goldman Sachs chief Henry Paulson -- the man who has been confirmed to be the next treasury secretary -- will breath new life in the administration's economic agenda.

Sure, because nearly 5-years of steady, sustained, uninterrupted economic growth with little inflation is a God-awful horrible legacy for this particular economic agenda. Right?

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.