Yes, It's Been Tried Before, But We're Expecting Different Results

From the post 'Unexpectedly' on the 'Powerline' blog:

"Why is it that after two years, bad economic news is still 'unexpected?'"

The post has a suggested reason:

"It's obviously going to be hard to achieve the unacknowledged goal of many mainstream journalists - the president's re-election - if the economic slump continues. So they characterize economic setbacks as unexpected, with the implication that there's still every reason to believe that, in Herbert Hoover's phrase, prosperity is just around the corner."

I think this is pretty good analysis. After the policies this administration has pursued and enacted, it shouldn't surprise anyone that there is bad economic news.