On Thursday, Sentier Research released a study showing that household income has actually declined at a worse rate in the sluggish economic recovery than it did during the December 2007-June 2009 recession. "From June 2009 to June 2012, inflation-adjusted median household income fell 4.8 percent, to $50,964," Washington Post's Michael Fletcher noted in Friday's paper, although his article was buried by editors on page A10. The New York Times ran a story on the report on Friday on page B1 entitled "Big Income Losses Hit Those Near Retirement."
This should of course be troubling news for any incumbent president, but since that happens to a be liberal Democrat, the media are not making much of it. Indeed, the broadcast networks have completely ignored the story, as a search of our DVR recordings and of the Nexis database confirm.
Former Gov. Haley Barbour (R-Miss.) and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) mentioned how household income has dropped on Obama's watch on the August 26 Face the Nation, but as the excerpt below shows, host Bob Schieffer was completely disinterested in discussing the president's poor economic management, preferring to fixate on the Todd Akin controversy (emphases mine):
SCHIEFFER: Well, but down there in that Senate race down there, he was running ahead, Akin, was, of the Democrat by about three or four points. I think it has now flipped, and I think the Democrat, Claire McCaskill, is up by about seven.
Mr. Priebus, are you guys going to let that stand?
PRIEBUS: Well, we have been pretty clear on how we feel about Todd Akin`s comments. You know, I...
SCHIEFFER: Yes, but he`s still there.
[...]SCHIEFFER: Well, Ms. Blackburn, it says what you all said in the beginning, this is going to be all about the economy. But what I`m wondering, how do you get it back to that, Governor Barbour? I mean, what has to happen at this convention?
BARBOUR: Well, I was going to say, Bob, the first thing is, if your first four questions are about it, it`s kind of hard getting the subject back on the economy when you want to talk about Todd Akin. The fact of the matter is...
SCHIEFFER: I want to talk about the news.
BARBOUR: You know, the fact of the matter is, in America Marco Rubio talks about the biggest source of new jobs are new businesses, new small businesses. Last year was the lowest number of new small businesses started in America in decades. In the Obama, quote, "recovery," the average American family, according to the Census Bureau, lost $2,500 a year in real per family income, $2,500 a year lost in the so-called recovery.
No matter what we talk about, that`s what`s on the American people`s minds. They get it.
BLACKBURN: Let`s add to that. You know, most of those small businesses that Haley is referencing are female-owned. They`re the majority of the new small business starts. That is why women are looking at this and they`re saying, look, my household income is down $4,300 a year, $2,600 a year is what I`m seeing as the increase in my health insurance. I am trying to get access to capital to grow this small business. The Obama economy is work against me. We`ve got to make some changes. Tell me what you`re going to do about it.
PRIEBUS: And, Bob, in your comment here, you talked about how Americans were just sort of sick and tired of politics generally. I agree with that. And I think that it`s really an indictment on Barack Obama, because he promised he was going to carpet the world. He was going to be a transcendent figure. He didn`t get it done.
And I think of all the things that this election is...
SCHIEFFER: Oh, come now. I mean, I take your point, but you`re not trying to tell me that the reason they were sick of politics is all the Democrats` fault and the Republicans have nothing...
PRIEBUS: No, no, no. No, I`m not saying that. But hear me out. I think Barack Obama is not real any more to the American people. They bought -- they bought a message in 2008. And I think of all the things that people are starving for in this country are real, authentic people that make a promise and keep a promise.
The Barack Obama brand is broken. And that is an indictment on Barack Obama. Now I think there`s a lot of work to be done in Washington. I think we do need people of their word to go do what they said they were going to do.
But at the top of the ticket is a man who sold us a bill of goods, and delivered on very little. And that`s going to be his biggest problem.
SCHIEFFER: But isn`t this just kind of a -- couldn`t you say the same thing? Because what happens is, people come, they make these promises, both sides do it, and then nothing happens. I mean, you have a Congress that has done nothing.
BLACKBURN: Well -- well, I take -- I`ll take issue with that. The House has over 30 jobs bills and about 200 pieces of legislation waiting for Harry Reid and the Democrat Senate to take it up. So I take a little bit of issue with that, the House has...
SCHIEFFER: Well, but the Democrats have some bills that...
BLACKBURN: But then look at this, in your commentary you said you wanted to see a leader who could sit down with the other side and get things done. Look at what Mitt Romney did in Massachusetts. That is exactly what he did.
