President says consumer confidence is way up; the survey says it is near a record low.

The President says consumer confidence is way up. The Conference Board, which is paid to measure consumer confidence, says it is near an all-time low. The University of Michigan survey, which has been measuring this since the 1950s, agrees. A third standard tracker also agrees.

Three out of three indices that exist for the sole purpose of telling you what the public thinks about the economy say the public thinks the economy is bad. The President says it’s way up.

Hon. We can both be looking at the same dashboard.

There is a way to dispute these numbers. You can argue the methodology is outdated. You can say the sample is biased. You can say the questions are leading. None of these arguments were attempted. The President just said the opposite of what the data said and moved on, like a man who has never opened a footnote in his life.

Consumer confidence is a soft number. It does not pay rent. But the people who do pay rent tend to know whether their groceries cost more this month than last. The country is not confused about its grocery bill.

You can argue with a survey. You can’t argue with a receipt.

That ought to concern you.