U.S. economy stumbling

There is just no getting around it: Our nation's economy is in serious peril.

Even the optimists among us cannot find much good news in the recent host of dismal economic figures.

Here are just a few of them:

* In June, for the first time in almost two years, consumer spending actually dropped. That reflects a general lack of confidence among the American people that things are turning around and that we are in recovery. That lack of confidence has major -- and highly negative -- implications for the United States, because consumer spending is the engine behind roughly two-thirds of our economic growth. If low consumer spending continues for very long, another recession will become a big possibility.

* Congress' recent deal to increase its debt limit has not calmed investors' nerves. While stocks can obviously rise and fall rapidly, the deal was supposed to boost investor confidence and get the stock market back on track. That has yet to happen, with the Dow Jones industrial average dropping significantly even after the deal was struck. What may be obvious to investors is that the debt deal is big on new borrowing but "skimpy" on real reductions in our crippling $14.6 trillion national debt.

* With growth in the first half of the year being far lower than expected, predictions of growth later in the year are being revised downward.

* Slow growth was earlier blamed mainly on high gasoline prices and delayed shipments of goods from Japan after it suffered an earthquake and tsunami earlier this year. But gas prices have moderated somewhat, and disruptions of shipments from Japan have lessened -- and yet growth is still anemic at best.

* The rate of economic expansion is so slow that it really can't do much to help bring down painfully high unemployment -- further harming consumers' ability to make purchases that could boost the economy.

* Businesses pulled back on their orders for heavy machinery, cars and airplanes in June -- the second time in three months that they have done so.

In the midst of all of this, bad economic policies such as ObamaCare are being incrementally imposed, adding uncertainty for businesses and making it harder for them to hire. And our country has little to show for hundreds of billions of dollars in stimulus spending -- yet Congress continues to talk about even more stimulus as a supposed "solution."

It is anyone's guess why the president and some lawmakers believe that new failed policies should be piled on top of old failed policies.

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