The Washington Times noted that while "President Obama was trumpeting his mastery of the economy in a New York Times Magazine interview," the White House labored to explain a first-quarter economic report showing the weakest growth in two years, observed Grumpy Editor.
Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic health, expanded at a slim 0.5 percent annual rate in the first quarter, reported the Commerce Department. That was below 2015's fourth quarter with a 1.4 percent growth rate.
An editorial in The Wall Street Journal said, "The White House issued its typically upbeat GDP analysis, with the only discouraging word being that "even with the solid growth in recent years, there is room for further expansion."
The Journal reminded that "the reality is that the first quarter is further evidence of what has been the weakest economic expansion in the postwar era."
It pointed out that since nearly seven years ago, growth has never exceeded 2.5 percent (2010).
IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...
Talking to a group of Rutgers University journalism students visiting the White House, President Obama complained about getting "picked on" by the press. The president urged the budding journalists to focus on the “great work” being done in Washington in an effort at “reducing cynicism." Then, sounding like a corporate public relations executive, he complained that "it is very hard to get good stories placed"...At Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, comedian and late night talk show host Larry Wilmore noted that MSNBC “actually now stands for missing a significant number of black correspondents”…The Associated Press apparently didn't like Donald Trump's foreign policy speech, saying it outlined "no strategy" --- even though many listeners cheered at the go-get-'em remarks. AP by the way, continued to refer to the GOP presidential front runner as "billionaire businessman and reality TV star"...The Chinese government nixed allowing the U.S. aircraft carrier John C. Stennis and four accompanying U.S. Navy ships to make a scheduled stop in Hong Kong…House lawmakers rejected a proposal to rename a Marine Corps amphibious assault vehicle the "Lima Warrior" after a company hit hard by improvised explosive devices during the Iraq War...However, the gung-ho House Armed Services Committee voted in favor of opening the Selective Service draft to women. The U.S. has not had a military draft since 1973 in the Vietnam War era...Analyzing U.S. colleges, College Factual named the top five schools to receive a journalism degree: Emerson College, University of Texas-Austin, Northwestern University, University of Southern California and Boston University...Smacking a home run deal: Boston’s radio sports outlet WEEI will continue as the flagship station of the Boston Red Sox for (at minimum) another seven years. WEEI and the Red Sox have been partners since 1995.
For those who follow global warming talk:
Winemakers in France turned to torches to keep their grapes from freezing during some unexpectedly cold nights last week in the Burgundy region, which hasn't seen such frost since 1981.
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