White House touts progress since collapse of Lehman Brothers

The White House is hoping to use the sixth anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse to refocus attention on the economy ahead of the midterm elections, highlighting signs of recovery in a blog post and fact sheet released Monday morning.

“While more work remains to continue digging out of the deep hole that was left by the crisis, this week offers a chance to reflect on the significant progress that has been made since then in strengthening the economy and reforming the financial sector,” Jeff Zients, the director of the National Economic Council, wrote in the blog post.

The documents’ authors argue that many of the president’s policies — from the bailout of the financial sector to the government assistance to General Motors and Chrysler — helped the country bounce back from “the dark days that marked the beginning of the financial crisis.”

But even with the addition of 10 million new jobs alongside healthy stock market and gross domestic product growth, the White House is battling perceptions that the economy is still struggling.

According to a Wall Street Journal / NBC News poll released last week, a majority of Americans, 53 percent, disapproved of the president’s handling of the economy. Some 43 percent said they approved.

Only 27 percent of those surveyed predicted the economy would get better over the next year, while a majority, 51 percent, said it would get worse. Two in 10 believe economic conditions will worsen.

The survey also showed Republicans with a 10-point advantage on which party is better dealing with the economy. Those results are tied for the best advantage for members of the GOP since June 1995.

Democrats have sought to highlight positive signs in the economy ahead of the midterm elections, but the messaging appears to have gained little traction. White House bids to spur congressional action on initiatives raising the minimum wage and securing equal pay also stalled out this year.

Still, the president is expected to push for additional administrative action on the economy in the coming weeks. The Treasury Department is currently examining ways to help convince U.S. companies to abandon a tax-avoidance scheme, known as inversions, by which they merge with foreign countries and relocate their corporate headquarters overseas.

Last week, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew promised action on the issue “in the very near future,” vowing the moves would make such deals “less economically appealing.”