The economy's been growing at a rate less than half the average for the recoveries following the 9 previous postwar recessions.  Accompanying the worst recovery ever is the longest period of sustained high unemployment since the Great Depression, the Congressional Budget Office noted. Real average hour earnings fell 1.1 percent between February of last year and this February, said the Bureau of Labor Statistics.   Americans are being squeezed more than the BLS data indicate.  The Consumer Price Index rose just 2.9 percent last year, but it doesn't include gasoline or food.  The American Institute for Economic Research compiles an "Everyday Price Index," which includes only stuff the typical consumer buys at least once a month.  The EPI rose 7.2 percent last year.   High unemployment, slow growth and soaring gasoline prices are the product chiefly of government policies.  They can be ameliorated, swiftly and substantially, if those policies are changed.  But it's too late to vote our way out of our biggest economic problem.

Something rare happened this week.  The story to which the news media devoted the most attention actually was the most important story.  Supreme Court Justices signaled during oral arguments they're likely to throw out Obamacare root and branch.  Liberals are stunned. When neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman shot black teenager Trayvon Martin Feb. 26, it was murder, motivated by racism, liberals concluded without benefit of evidence.  Now evidence is emerging, and an open and shut case is being cluttered up with facts. Zimmerman's mother is Peruvian, which makes him as Hispanic as Barack Obama is black.  He's a registered Democrat.  This has no bearing whatsoever on Zimmerman's guilt or innocence, but it complicates the liberal narrative that somehow white Republicans are to blame for the shooting, and casts doubt on the wisdom of the president's decision to interject himself in the case. The liberal boycott of the Rush Limbaugh program has fizzled, the Washington Post acknowledged this week.  Rush's ratings are up 10 to 60 percent, and advertisers are beating down his door.  The big loser is George Soros-funded Media Matters, which put its reputation for intimidating advertisers on the line, and failed. Democrats are panicking about the political implications of Zero telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev he would show more "flexibility" on missile defense after the election.  The clumsy lie Obama told trying to explain away the comment may compound the damage. Paul Ryan's budget passed the House.  Zero's budget got zero votes.

The presidency of Richard Nixon was destroyed, and that of Bill Clinton nearly ruined, by scandals that erupted over lies they told.  But no president ever before has lied as frequently, as flagrantly, or as foolishly as has Barack Obama. Mr. Obama was in Cushing, Oklahoma last Thursday (3/22) to pretend he was for the Keystone XL pipeline he blocked in January, and to feign support for domestic production of oil and natural gas, which his administration hinders and hampers in every way it can. Posing in front of stacks of pipe, Mr. Obama said: "Today, I'm directing my administration to cut through the red tape, break through the bureaucratic hurdles and make this project a priority." How does he expect people to believe this?  Does this guy have some psychological compulsion to lie?

Passage of his health care law is his proudest achievement, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, said she was told by President Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.. But when the second anniversary of Obamacare rolled around last Friday (3/23), the White House hoped you wouldn't notice.  Why? Because we've learned everything Democrats said about it is false.  Here's a quick compendium of Obamalies and Obamadeceit on Obamacare.

The Supreme Court last week ruled against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a unanimous decision. The EPA had charged a couple with violating the Clean Water Act. It claimed their property was a "wetland" and said it would fine them up to $75,000 per day - but there was no water on the property and there had been no judicial review of the charge. Where are the members of Congress whose funding enables the EPA to engage in this tyranny? Republicans whine that they cannot control spending because they only control one half of Congress. But the plain fact is that the Constitution is very specific. Any spending bill must be passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law by the president. Thus, there is nothing - nothing - to prevent the House Republicans from refusing to fund the EPA's desired budget until the agency puts procedures in place to guarantee the basic constitutional rights of all Americans.  Yet they are all whine and no guts.

Jack Wheeler is still in Africa, so I'll be subbing for him this week and next.  We'll begin this HFR with unadulterated good news.  The Supreme Court smacked down the EPA Wednesday for regulatory overreach. The mission in Afghanistan is on track, Marine Gen. John Allen, the NATO commander in Afghanistan, told the House Armed Services Committee Tuesday. If Gen. Allen really believed that, he'd be delusional. The fat lady was warming up after Mitt Romney's big win in Illinois Tuesday.  Then Romney's own campaign manager revived fears Mitt is a duplicitous squish. GOP prospects hinge heavily on how the middle class responds to Paul Ryan's budget.  He proposes to spend $3.5 trillion less than Obama over the next decade.  Democrats already are running Mediscare ads, but some conservatives think Ryan doesn't cut enough. Wednesday was the second anniversary of the passage of Obamacare.  Zero hopes you didn't notice. Journalists don't check out Zero's birth certificate because they're afraid it might be forged, an editor told columnist Diana West.