New unemployment claims are the lowest they’ve been since April 2008, prior to the economic collapse. Meanwhile, the domestic auto industry is selling a lot of cars. Mortgage rates are the lowest they’ve been since 2003, and interest rates are at a 40-year low. All of this is bad news for Republicans, which probably explains why the House of Representatives wants to screw the middle class out of a $150 billion stimulus by opposing the extension of the payroll tax holiday and unemployment insurance.
Our economy could catch a cold from Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, although that is starting to look less likely. The other major threat is that Congress will starve the economy of money, as the Tea Party demands.