Lies, damn lies, and the economy.

Funny how the "robust" economy is not helping Republicans in general, but really not surprising — even though it must be winning votes among the very wealthy, who are no doubt doing quite well, thank you.

The whole notion that the surging stock market and related good economic news mean the economy is in great shape is delusional, almost a shell game. Here's how it really works:

The ultra-wealthy one or two percent of the population took their five- and six-figure tax cuts and plowed them into the stock market, which naturally caused the DOW and other indicators to surge with glee.

There is a kind of parallel universe, where those with lots of money to spend are investing like crazy, buying and selling and raking in profits, making it look like the economy is strong and growing, while the rest of us are borrowing money to pay for car repairs so we can get to the second (or third) job that we’ve had to take just to get by.

And, of course, that lets the Republicans claim that “hundreds of thousands of new jobs have been created” and that unemployment claims are at "an all-time low."

A shell game.