Consumer Confidence Low After Constant Crisis Mongering From Washington

Unexpectedly!

Consumer sentiment unexpectedly deteriorated for a second straight month to its lowest in over a year in January, with many consumers citing fallout from the recent “fiscal cliff” debate in Washington, a survey released on Friday showed.

The sharp drop in sentiment over the last two months coincides with rancorous federal budget negotiations that have led to higher taxes for many Americans.

Let’s be clear: both sides aren’t doing this. The current m.o. of the administration is to make every looming fiscal event seem apocalyptic to create the narrative that any opposition from Republicans means they want the country to fail. The result is that whatever awful solution the Democrats are proposing usually gets passed, usually with slight modifications to make it seem like some actual compromise was reached.

“Elections have consequences”. Even for the winners.