Here we go again.  Another round of disappointing economic news in year 7 of "hope and change" and summer 6 of the stimulus.  According to The Wall Street Journal, there is not a lot to cheer "yes we can" about:

The U.S. economy expanded at a 2.3% seasonally adjusted annual pace in the second quarter. If the number sounds familiar, there’s a good reason. The economy has been growing at about that pace for six years. From the end of the recession in mid-2009 through the end of last year the economy grew at a 2.2% annual pace.

It gets more depressing:

The economic expansion—already the worst on record since World War II—is weaker than previously thought, according to revised data. From 2012 through 2014, the economy grew at a rate of 2.0% annually. That’s a 0.3 percentage-point downgrade from prior estimates.

We will probably hear from the Obama administration that this is because the GOP has been blocking the president's agenda or because climate change has made winters longer and more unbearable.  (Or is it that summers are longer?)

I don't know about the climate, but I do know that President Obama passed the "stimulus" with huge majorities in the U.S. Congress.  I'm sure we all remember that V.P. Biden was put in charge of overseeing the stimulus back in the summer of 2009.

These bad numbers mean that the 2016 GOP message must be about growth and more growth.  The U.S. economy has a bad case of inertia.  Nobody is pumped up, and that's what these numbers are telling me.

The 2016 GOP nominee must explain how tax reform, cutting back regulations, repealing Obamacare, and expanding "fair trade" will make life better for all.  The Democrats will spin their class warfare vinyl on the turntable.  It's up to the GOP to present a clear message that explains how these ideas mean better jobs and stronger communities.

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