More Bad Economic News for Incumbents

Insights into the U.S. economy turned fairly negative in the past couple of days: a decline in retail sales, a downward revision in the FOMC's expectations, and declines in the Empire State Manufacturing Survey and the Philadelphia Fed survey. And, Gallup's data suggest that tomorrow's consumer sentiment index is likely to take a tumble, adding another negative to the list.

Amazingly, the percentage of Americans saying the economy is "getting worse" is now at its high since late March 2009. Not likely to be good news for the incumbents of either party as the midyear elections approach.