“Today’s data showing that gross domestic product grew at a 2.2 percent rate in the first three months of 2012 confirms a long-running pattern – the U.S. economy is clearly expanding, but just as clearly it’s expanding at a rate that is too slow to put reliable, significant downward pressure on joblessness. The surest way to boost near-term growth to pull down the unemployment rate remains further fiscal support. The fact that most of the policy debate is instead focused on just how fast this support will be ramped down in coming quarters is a sign of how detached this debate has become from economic reality.”

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