For the Record

“Unemployment is low. Well, there’s a reason for that. People aren’t working. You don’t look at the unemployment number. You look at the labor force participation rate. And we’ve had a lot of people retire, and we had a lot of people who refused to go back to work, and they’re now rotting in the wagon and everybody else has got to pull the wagon. And the bottom line is the economy sucks, and it’s not going to get any better. … And it’s just going to get worse until Congress stops the spending.” —Senator John Kennedy

“The people denying we [are] in a recession are the same government officials and their shameless media enablers who for months denied we faced runaway inflation.” —Senator Marco Rubio

Flip-Flop

“Two negative quarters of GDP growth is not the technical definition of recession. It’s not the definition that economists have traditionally relied on.” —White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, July 2022

“Of course economists have a technical definition of recession, which is two consecutive quarters of negative growth.” —Brian Deese, March 2008

Gaslighting

“Virtually nothing signals that this period in the second quarter is recessionary.” —Brian Deese

“Fundamentally, there’s still a lot of reason to feel good about the economy.” —Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo

“Most economists and most Americans have a similar definition of recession: Substantial job losses and mass layoffs; businesses shutting down; private-sector activity slowing considerably; family budgets under immense strain. In sum, a broad-based weakening of our economy. That is not what we’re seeing right now when you look at the economy. Job creation is continuing. Household finances remain strong. Consumers are spending and businesses are growing. … In the context of today’s [GDP] report, it’s important to look beyond the headline number to understand what’s happening. … Overall, with a slowdown in private demand, this report indicates an economy that is transitioning to more steady, sustainable growth. This path is consistent with one that eases inflationary pressures while maintaining the labor market progress of the past 18 months.” —Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen

“Coming off of last year’s historic economic growth — and regaining all the private sector jobs lost during the pandemic crisis — it’s no surprise that the economy is slowing down as the Federal Reserve acts to bring down inflation. But even as we face historic global challenges, we are on the right path and we will come through this transition stronger and more secure.” —President Joe Biden

“[Federal Reserve] Chairman [Jerome] Powell and many of the significant banking personnel and economists say we’re not in a recession.” —Joe Biden

“Passing the CHIPS bill is going to put another $72 billion for incentives and tax credits to expand semiconductor production. And the Inflation Reduction Act will add another $370 billion in clean energy tax credits in reconciliation, including incentives to accelerate domestic production of solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, and critical materials processing. That doesn’t sound like a recession to me.” —Joe Biden

“We’re in a transition. We had this strong economic growth because of the work that the president has done in the past 18 months, and now what we’re seeing is a transition into stable and steady growth." —White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

Hot Air

”[Climate legislation] is hung up on an old-fashioned filibuster, sort of recent, made-up American rules, where the fate of life on earth is at stake.“ —CNN Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir

Belly Laugh of the Week

"Journalists don’t usually share personal opinions or positions.” —ex-CNN Democrat talkinghead Chris Cuomo

And Last…

“DC [Mayor Muriel Bowser] calls for activating the National Guard to handle the influx of illegal migrants into the city, calling it a ‘humanitarian crisis.’ This is something she refused to do on January 6 but will do when 4,000 illegal migrants enter her city.” —Greg Price

“D.C. is experiencing a fraction of the disastrous impact the border crisis has caused Texas. Mayor Bowser should stop attacking Texas for securing the border & demand Joe Biden do his job.” —Texas Governor Greg Abbott

“[She’s] running to the Pentagon, saying, ‘Oh, my gosh, we need the National Guard.’ Oh, you know what? Cry me a frickin’ river. Welcome to the party, pal.” —Congressman Chip Roy

“Shame on all the liberal mayors who did nothing while we saw a record amount of people and fentanyl illegally entering into our country. They didn’t care, or they ignored it, until it literally came to their front door.” —Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich