Osama's Dead - The Economy Still Stinks

Can we please drive a stake through the heart of Obamanomics?

The first-quarter GDP growth rate plunged to 1.8 percent, a steep change from the previous quarter's middling 3.1 percent growth rate. Even more ominously, imports increased by 4.4 percent vs. a 2010 fourth quarter decrease of 12.6 percent, and exports hit their lowest number (a 4.9 percent growth rate) since mid-2009. Meanwhile, personal consumption expenditures dropped from fourth quarter's 4 percent growth rate to 2.7 percent.


The real story, though, comes near the end of the April Commerce Department report. Federal government spending dropped 7.9 percent after staying nearly even in the fourth quarter. National defense spending dropped 11.7 percent. That drop in spending explains why previous growth rates had been artificially inflated. It also explains why jobs have not returned.