AP survey, Only oil shock can stop economy now

The Associated Press must be from another planet. They see the present state of this environment positive. AP is saying Americans are spending more on furniture, cars and electronics. Really? Who is buying cars with these gas prices?

AP is reporting an increase in American exports and corporate spending, which have helped drive the recovery, are expected to remain strong. What? With the failed bailouts to pay the CEO bonuses, the only way to drive this economy is consumer spending. We aren't producing anything in this country. Companies aren't spending. There is still a trillion dollars tucked away awaiting for the right time for companies to diversify.

The Associated Press is Obama's lap dog. The spending is through the roof, our debt will never get paid off, true unemployment and productivity will never improve, the dollar will continue to sink, and the turmoil around the world will keep this country struggling to make ends meet. Gas prices is one thing that will hinder this economy, but there is a solution; DRILL BABY DRILL.

(AP) WASHINGTON -- The American economy is now strong enough to withstand Middle East turmoil and the Japanese nuclear crisis. Only a big rise in the price of oil could stop it now.

Those are the findings of an Associated Press survey of leading economists, who are increasingly confident in a recovery that is nearly two years old. They expect the economy to grow faster every quarter this year.

In part, that's because the economists think Americans will spend more freely in the coming months. Higher stock prices have made people wealthier. And a cut in the Social Security payroll tax is giving most households an extra $1,000 to $2,000 this year.

American exports and corporate spending, which have helped drive the recovery, are also expected to remain strong, according to the quarterly AP Economy Survey.

The one factor that could make a second recession a possibility would be a jump in oil prices to $150 a barrel, economists say. Oil trades at about $112 a barrel now. The record high, set in the summer of 2008, is about $147 a barrel.