The economy is not Trump's ticket to 2020 victory (opinion)
(CNN)  Donald Trump  became the first US president to speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos and bragged  like  he  often has  about the state of the American economy. It won't save  his  presidency.
Something that  Trump  fans  and even #NeverTrumpers (like New York Times columnist Bret Stephens ) don't seem to understand: it's no longer just "the economy  stupid." Why? Because  Donald Trump  and  his  most ardent supporters spent the Obama era setting a new precedent: that good economic news is to be ignored  downplayed or disbelieved -- or at least never credited to the guy in the White House.
 They  did this during the presidency of the first black man to hold that office -- a man who had helped to steer the US economy from the brink of collapse into the longest monthly job creation streak in the country's history.
That  Trump  supporters then turned around and were able to elect a man who rose to national political prominence while using open bigotry shows that the new standard was now in place: voters will give as much credit for a good economy in November  2018  or in 2020 as  Trump  fans gave President Obama.
While  Trump  has talked up economic performance during  his  first year  it was simply a repeat of what we saw during the final Obama years: solid quarters of growth bracketed by slower growth; monthly job increases and historically low jobless claims; and high levels of inequality. In 2017  the economy grew 2.3% -- in line with its performance under Obama. But under Obama  the poor and middle class had their biggest annual wage increase ever  and more Americans had health insurance than ever.
 Trump  has conditioned us to disbelieve economic indicators  as did some of  his  high-profile supporters  who claimed the jobless rate was dropping under Obama because the books had been cooked. They did not care that the S&P 500 nearly tripled during the Obama years  even as they now tout every new record high under  Trump . They did not care that the unemployment rate dropped from 10% early in Obama's tenure to less than 5% by the time he left office. Neither did they care that the poor and middle class received the largest annual increase in wages on record in 2016
They credit  Trump 's deregulation talk and tax cuts  neither of which have fully kicked in  for recent economic growth  but ignored the millions of jobs created by the Obama stimulus or two even larger tax cuts under the previous President.
They don't even care that  Trump  broke multiple promises to those in  his  base  including those Carrier jobs  he  supposedly saved in Indiana that weren't saved.  His  administration is current dismantling a consumer protection bureau that helped level the playing field between corporations and the poor and middle class. While various corporations have announced bonuses and modest raises because of the tax cut that is now trickling its way through the economy  they have still been announcing massive layoffs.
(CNN)   [TGT] became the first US president to speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos and bragged  like   [TGT]   often has  about the state of the American economy. It won't save   [TGT]   presidency.
Something that   [TGT]   fans  and even #NeverTrumpers (like New York Times columnist Bret Stephens ) don't seem to understand: it's no longer just "the economy  stupid." Why? Because   [TGT] and   [TGT]   most ardent supporters spent the Obama era setting a new precedent: that good economic news is to be ignored  downplayed or disbelieved -- or at least never credited to the guy in the White House.
 They  did this during the presidency of the first black man to hold that office -- a man who had helped to steer the US economy from the brink of collapse into the longest monthly job creation streak in the country's history.
That   [TGT]   supporters then turned around and were able to elect a man who rose to national political prominence while using open bigotry shows that the new standard was now in place: voters will give as much credit for a good economy in November  2018  or in 2020 as   [TGT]   fans gave President Obama.
While   [TGT] has talked up economic performance during   [TGT]   first year  it was simply a repeat of what we saw during the final Obama years: solid quarters of growth bracketed by slower growth; monthly job increases and historically low jobless claims; and high levels of inequality. In 2017  the economy grew 2.3% -- in line with its performance under Obama. But under Obama  the poor and middle class had their biggest annual wage increase ever  and more Americans had health insurance than ever.
  [TGT] has conditioned us to disbelieve economic indicators  as did some of   [TGT]   high-profile supporters  who claimed the jobless rate was dropping under Obama because the books had been cooked. They did not care that the S&P 500 nearly tripled during the Obama years  even as they now tout every new record high under   [TGT]  . They did not care that the unemployment rate dropped from 10% early in Obama's tenure to less than 5% by the time  [TGT]  left office. Neither did they care that the poor and middle class received the largest annual increase in wages on record in 2016
They credit   [TGT]  's deregulation talk and tax cuts  neither of which have fully kicked in  for recent economic growth  but ignored the millions of jobs created by the Obama stimulus or two even larger tax cuts under the previous President.
They don't even care that   [TGT] broke multiple promises to those in   [TGT]   base  including those Carrier jobs   [TGT]   supposedly saved in Indiana that weren't saved.   [TGT]   administration is current dismantling a consumer protection bureau that helped level the playing field between corporations and the poor and middle class. While various corporations have announced bonuses and modest raises because of the tax cut that is now trickling its way through the economy  they have still been announcing massive layoffs.