The Hill News

Had the relatively rosy economic numbers out in December hit a couple of months earlier, President Obama’s “shellacking” in the midterms might have been more on the order of a loss of some seats that the power in party routinely suffers at the midterm point.

The economy is improving â€" banks are beginning to lend again (slowly, yes, but beginning); employers are predicting more hiring (one hopes they mean here in America; not overseas); unemployment applications are down; stocks are markedly up.

Still, no reputable economist sees the unemployment rate falling fast from its current 9.8 percent to below 8 percent, the point at which some pundits say it must head for the president to win reelection.

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