Reuters: Democrat political gamesmanship worries consumers, damages already weak economy

I do believe Reuters buried the lede in their latest addition of still more bad news for a struggling American economy, thanks to the Democrats: "Cautious consumers, trade curb U.S. growth."

The biggest factor weighing on the recovery is fear that politicians in Washington would be unable to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff at the turn of the year, economists said.

Democrat posturing for perceived political advantage over the GOP can't be ignored given Reuters' conclusion, while little of the additional economic news in the item could be described as positive.

Gross domestic product expanded at a 1.5 percent annual rate between April and June, the weakest pace of growth since the third quarter of 2011, the Commerce Department said on Friday.

… The ailing economy could cost President Barack Obama a second term in office when Americans vote in November.

The expansion following the 2007-09 recession is the slowest since the 1980-81 period and the recession itself was the deepest in the post-war period, annual revisions to the data confirmed.

The weak second-quarter reading, which was in line with economists' expectations, could raise expectations of a third round of bond purchases, also known as quantitative easing, by the Federal Reserve.

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