Not surprised that they didn't make a big production out of releasing the revised numbers for the economy over the short term. In fact, they probably wanted to wait until after midnight when everyone had gone home and few would have noticed. Yes, it's that bad: The Obama administration downgraded its forecast for economic growth Thursday, predicting turmoil in the economy will likely keep unemployment above 9 percent through next year's election. The unemployment rate is considered to be one of the most important factors in presidential elections, so if the White House's assessment holds, President Obama is in for one of the toughest reelection fights in memory. When the "substantial" economic "turbulence" of the last two months are considered, the administration expects the economy to grow as little as 1.7 percent in 2011 compared to last year. That is down from a rosier projection of 2.7 percent growth, made in February. "The economic projections made clear that in the short-term,...(Read Full Post)