ECONOMIC GRIMNESS – AT 8:56 A.M. ET:  The American economy has hit the brakes.  From the Washington Post: 

The U.S. economy ground nearly to a halt in the first three months of the year, according to government data released Wednesday morning, as exports plunged and severe winter weather sidelined construction projects and helped keep consumers indoors.

The gross domestic product grew between January and March at an annualized rate of 0.2 percent, the U.S. Commerce Department said, adding to the picture of an economy braking sharply after accelerating for much of last year. The first pace fell well shy of the 1 percent mark anticipated by analysts and marked the weakest quarter in a year.

The economy had expanded at a rate of 2.2 percent in the final three months of 2014.

Economists, employers and policymakers now face the challenge of determining whether the slowdown is temporary — stemming mostly from an unusually snowy winter in the Northeast — or a sign of broader problems.

COMMENT:  It's been my experience that people still have to eat in snowy weather, still have to buy fuel, still have to pay electric and cable TV bills, and still go to doctors and hospitals.  The fact is that there have been signs of an economic slowdown for some time.  There has also been an increase, for three weeks running, in the number of unemployment claims.

Now, of course, we all know that this is all caused by George Bush and global warming, but maybe an enterprising reporter will determine some other cause. 

Oh, by the way, wait 'til the next figures come out, and how the left will say how anything negative was influenced by racial rioting caused by...the police and their Republican allies.  Coming to a CNN channel near you.

April 29,  2015