we have the strongest economy in the world. this is likely to continue.
2
What Americans refuse to admit is that the golden days of the 50's and 60's are over. Back then, the USA was able to dominate global markets, because most of our competition was destroyed during WWII. Unions could force wages up, corporations could produce crummy products and consumers were stuck with it. Manufacturing is never coming back to the USA, because we can't compete on cost. Wages are not coming back, no matter whether you tax every billionaire on Earth 100%, unless you have a skill that's demanded by the new economy. The bottom line is that workers had better get the skills necessary to compete in the new paradigm and quit whining about a something that's already passed by.
6
Somebody below said: "If the state of the union were strong, Trump wouldn't stand a chance and would already be a blip on the political radar."
This is exactly what is lost on most Democrats. They think Trump's support is 1) narrow (racists, evangelicals, angry old uneducated white guys, or all three in one) or 2) based on the electorate being stupid.
But Democrats have their head in the sand. They fantasize about Bernie, a thing that will never happen. But what can easily happen is Hillary against Trump, and Trump could make quick work of her, since he will not be squeamish or too delicate to bring up her serial offenses starting with Rose Law Firm. He will not do this once, but every day, every hour, every minute. He clearly knows how to do it - viz the de facto erasure of the patrician Mr. Bush. And his great strength is that he doesn't care what people think about him, his sometimes crazy positions, or his hair, as long as they vote for him. And they will.
And so we can easily have President Trump, and all the Democrats, and most of the people on this board will say: "But, but, but ... what happened? I don't understand this country any more. I am dumbfounded. (I am moving to Canada). Can you believe this? The state of the union is strong! Why are people so dumb? Why can't they see it!!?"
Except it will not be the people who are dumb.
None is so blind as he who wills not to see.
This is exactly what is lost on most Democrats. They think Trump's support is 1) narrow (racists, evangelicals, angry old uneducated white guys, or all three in one) or 2) based on the electorate being stupid.
But Democrats have their head in the sand. They fantasize about Bernie, a thing that will never happen. But what can easily happen is Hillary against Trump, and Trump could make quick work of her, since he will not be squeamish or too delicate to bring up her serial offenses starting with Rose Law Firm. He will not do this once, but every day, every hour, every minute. He clearly knows how to do it - viz the de facto erasure of the patrician Mr. Bush. And his great strength is that he doesn't care what people think about him, his sometimes crazy positions, or his hair, as long as they vote for him. And they will.
And so we can easily have President Trump, and all the Democrats, and most of the people on this board will say: "But, but, but ... what happened? I don't understand this country any more. I am dumbfounded. (I am moving to Canada). Can you believe this? The state of the union is strong! Why are people so dumb? Why can't they see it!!?"
Except it will not be the people who are dumb.
None is so blind as he who wills not to see.
3
are you really saying that trump will run on a steady diet of insults, lies and gossip? and you think this will appeal to anybody living in the real world?
7
What the Obama years have shown is that all the dire predictions for Dodd Frank, the ACA or the expiration of the Bush tax cuts were at best mistaken and at worst fraudulent. It might help if Democrats would stop apologizing for deficits, exploded by Reagan and Bush, and programs like Social Security and Medicare.
12
The President’s view of Future America is an America much like today’s only better, fixed of its problems. Americans actually want a New America; they just don’t agree on what ‘New’ is. But regardless, they know for sure it is not: sort of what we have today. The political outsiders have been invited in and are getting all the attention. New voices and new approaches are being listened to. All in hopes of hearing the words, the ideas that will lift a nation. Not a downtrodden nation as some are saying but a nation ready to become its next manifestation. This president promised hope and change. The nation awaits. But more, they will surely work on that future when someone shows it to them.
3
the richest in America don't acquire or grow their wealth through wages they do so through investment. so we have two basically different ways generating income in our economy. they are never going to be equal or generate income equality. and the socialist remedy of income redistribution has a very long history of not working to address this inequality, in fact it usually makes it worse.
in a properly functioning free market economy where incomes are distributed efficiently the distribution curve is much more like a normal curve with the big hump in the middle and the ends trailing off to the right and left. the fact that today the income distribution curve is skewed far to the right is a clear indication that our economy is not functioning as a free market. Its over regulated, over politicized, and inequitably taxed.
the conservative view of taxes has been ruled for the last 40 years or so by the laffer curve. The notion that lower tax rates on the wealthy will generate greater economic activity and increased tax revenues. that might have been true 40 years ago. but what conservatives today have forgotten or purposely over looked is that the laffer curve is a curve. so to the left of the inflection point lower tax rates mean lower tax revenues. that's where we are today.
raising tax rates on the wealthy back to the maximum (the inflection point) will generate more tax revenue, help shrink the federal budget deficit and rebalance income inequality.
in a properly functioning free market economy where incomes are distributed efficiently the distribution curve is much more like a normal curve with the big hump in the middle and the ends trailing off to the right and left. the fact that today the income distribution curve is skewed far to the right is a clear indication that our economy is not functioning as a free market. Its over regulated, over politicized, and inequitably taxed.
the conservative view of taxes has been ruled for the last 40 years or so by the laffer curve. The notion that lower tax rates on the wealthy will generate greater economic activity and increased tax revenues. that might have been true 40 years ago. but what conservatives today have forgotten or purposely over looked is that the laffer curve is a curve. so to the left of the inflection point lower tax rates mean lower tax revenues. that's where we are today.
raising tax rates on the wealthy back to the maximum (the inflection point) will generate more tax revenue, help shrink the federal budget deficit and rebalance income inequality.
8
Someone posted early in this thread that we the 'voters blew it, that the low turnout for Congressional elections lost the country the opportunity of a lifetime with Obama as president'. That is so right; profound in its simplicity.
15
"During the debates, nearly every Republican candidate has brandished the fact that wages have been stagnant for decades. The Democratic candidates’ focus has been on how to increase middle class incomes. There’s little room for talk about the remarkable turnaround the economy has experienced over the last seven years. "
Once again we see the democrats too intimidated by their opponents to speak out about the positives. They are essentially dancing to the tune of the republican candidates. This is a losing strategy to beat your opponent.
Once again we see the democrats too intimidated by their opponents to speak out about the positives. They are essentially dancing to the tune of the republican candidates. This is a losing strategy to beat your opponent.
5
Sure, the middle class is angry. The underlying cause is stagnant income caused by technology, globalization and trickle-down. Technology and globalization are impossible to stop -- at least without consequences that are worse than stopping them.
But trickle-down? That hoax that Reagan foisted on the gullible voters among us -- that was the major preventable *policy* choice with which the middle class hung itself. And it is *still* reflected in the tax rates, although Obama has made some progress in fixing it.
If the middle class is angry that their pay is stagnant, don't look down -- at those even *worse off* than you to food-stamp recipients and illegal immigrants as Trump wants you to do: look up, at the corporations and 1% who have the pay *you* earned but did not receive! They have your money, not those beneath you. You've been robbed. Know your enemy.
-- Bernie 2016
But trickle-down? That hoax that Reagan foisted on the gullible voters among us -- that was the major preventable *policy* choice with which the middle class hung itself. And it is *still* reflected in the tax rates, although Obama has made some progress in fixing it.
If the middle class is angry that their pay is stagnant, don't look down -- at those even *worse off* than you to food-stamp recipients and illegal immigrants as Trump wants you to do: look up, at the corporations and 1% who have the pay *you* earned but did not receive! They have your money, not those beneath you. You've been robbed. Know your enemy.
-- Bernie 2016
14
All recessions come to an end in the business cycle as America follows its historical pattern; that’s not in dispute. The issue is how we come out of them.
1
From the very beginning of President Obama's presidency, the Republicans publicly declared war on his term. They have never stopped and they have never stopped repeated falsehoods. Over and over we are told if you repeat a lie long enough, people will believe it. Wouldn't it have been nice if instead of representing their party, the Republicans had represented the country and worked with President Obama and the Democrats to resolve these issues? It reminds me of when a little brother devils a big brother and then claims he was wounded by the big brother.
7
If the Democrats, and I'm a lifelong progressive Democrat, keep on running away from President Obama's significant accomplishments as they have in the past two mid-term elections, they are tacitly sending the message that they're Republican-lite. And we all know how that turns out. Yes, we have income inequality, but it would be even worse if tax-cutting Republicans were able to keep the devastating Bush cuts in place and add even more to them. And yes, the game is still "rigged" or "fixed" in favor of the rich, but it would be even worse under Republicans who feel tax cuts solve every economic problem, are against any minimum wage, and expanded health care coverage. It's time for both Bernie and Hillary to celebrate President Obama's substantial achievements in the face of unified Republican opposition rather than joining them in either ignoring or denigrating them. It's time for a little Democratic pride and a victory lap.
12
If only Mr. Obama's AG, Eric "See No Evil" Holder, had bothered to put one of the hundreds of criminally fraudulent bankers in jail, after they stole the homes and savings of millions of taxpayers who then had to bail them all out of their crashed Ponzi schemes to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, I think everyone might feel a little better.
But widespread resentment against the endemic criminal culture of Wall Street banksters has in turn led to a refusal to recognize the resurging economy. It's the lack of justice that has everyone so mad, and rightfully so. It was one of the greatest mistakes of his tenure, despite all of the amazing good he has done.
But widespread resentment against the endemic criminal culture of Wall Street banksters has in turn led to a refusal to recognize the resurging economy. It's the lack of justice that has everyone so mad, and rightfully so. It was one of the greatest mistakes of his tenure, despite all of the amazing good he has done.
7
The late '80s and '90s booms wasn't across the board either. Back then the gains were made by the banking, legal and hedge fund worlds, the regular guy got left behind. Yes, there was probably more growth in non-banking fields than now but the reality is that for the vast majority of working people, their jobs and salaries chugged along without huge jumps. This focus on inequality is a ploy by the right to avoid discussing that inevitably recovery is uneven and industries and skills fade and new ones develop. Turning attention in times of economic uncertainty to social issues (abortion, gay marriage, religion in public etc) has enabled the Republicans to avoid having to deliver on their economic promises. Now, however, there is real visceral anger and voters may not be so compliant this time around.
4
Often your greatest strength can be your greatest weakness. Take the money we spend (not invest, spend) on "defense"... or more accurately "war". We spend more than the next 8 countries combined and advertise this as a measure of strength. Many of the right wing candidates propose to spend even more, some much more. Seen from the other direction spending so much may be a great weakness. The money never gets "invested" in anything productive, something that actually improves our economy. Granted we need a strong defense but how strong? We also need a strong infrastructure and a robust economy and, in fact, a stronger economy might be our best defense.
9
If the state of the union were strong, Trump wouldn't stand a chance and would already be a blip on the political radar.
4
Not true, Northstar. The Donald would make up something else for us to fear (just as he's made-up his vision of the state of the union)...and then he'd tell us who to blame for that fear.
8
The economy has recovered nicely from the cyclical recession. All of the typical indicators that we look at to determine where we are in the business cycle (GDP growth, unemployment rates, job creation, the DJIA, etc.) The issue is that structural weakness which has been trending in the opposite direction for a decade or longer is what most people are feeling when they say the economy is in bad shape. Obama isn't to blame for the structural issues, but he's done nothing to alleviate them either. Flat wages, growing wealth and income gaps, declining prospects for the next generation to do better than the previous, etc. are signs of structural issues that few if any politicians or elected officials seem to understand or want to address. (Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are among the few who seem to "get it" but neither is likely to be in a position to do much about it anytime soon.)
1
When a president boards "the ship that has sailed" he is indeed a captive on a ship of fools. The bi-partisan acceptance of the loss of the middle class to globalism & the emergence of underemployment as a way of life screams for correction before this situation becomes the standard, if it already hasn't. Trading technology & armaments for consumer goods is not the path to health & happiness, either here or abroad.
2
The GOP's mantra since the says of Hollywood Reagan has been "keep 'em scared and stupid".
Fox-Kids helps on both counts.
My rightist friends embrace their own ignorance.
Every one, without exception, is terrified of ISIS, thinks my President is an Al Qeada sleeper cell agent and not one knew that not only was Hollywood Reagan a labor union member but was actually the President of a labor union.
Another aspect of my rightist friends that concerns me is their hatred of facts.
When I told than that no t was Hollywood Reagan a labor union hypocrite but that he chickened out of World War II along with John Wayne.
Rightists are emotionally stunted and intellectually challenged which is why Trump does so well with those pinheads.
Read something rightists...this ignorance you embrace just isn't that cute anymore...or have I MISUNDERESTIMATED the rightist's intelligence?
Fox-Kids helps on both counts.
My rightist friends embrace their own ignorance.
Every one, without exception, is terrified of ISIS, thinks my President is an Al Qeada sleeper cell agent and not one knew that not only was Hollywood Reagan a labor union member but was actually the President of a labor union.
Another aspect of my rightist friends that concerns me is their hatred of facts.
When I told than that no t was Hollywood Reagan a labor union hypocrite but that he chickened out of World War II along with John Wayne.
Rightists are emotionally stunted and intellectually challenged which is why Trump does so well with those pinheads.
Read something rightists...this ignorance you embrace just isn't that cute anymore...or have I MISUNDERESTIMATED the rightist's intelligence?
5
The economy has indeed turned around. There's no doubt about that. The problem is that what it has turned around to was none too good to begin with. As Mr Covert correctly notes, it's not just a matter of the years of Obama's presidency. There have been "decades of wage stagnation for the majority of American workers." The difference between now and then, before Wall Street gamesmanship precipitated a crash, is that American workers are alive to how much "the economy" has been "rigged" against them all along. And they are justifiably angry, still casting about for whom to hold responsible.
6
Mr. Covert hits the nail on the head. The rate of recovery from the recession depends on your socioeconomic status. He has captured Trickle down economics perfectly. It should be a textbook description.
This is the frustration felt by middle America, this is the economic pain explained in white middle class drug addiction and suicide.
Millions of Americans know their futures and hopes for their families are diminished if not forever, then for generations.
Truthfully, aside for Bernie Sanders, no candidate dares present an economic and social platform that favors more everyday working Americans shifting the priorities of politics back to meeting the common good for more Americans
This is the frustration felt by middle America, this is the economic pain explained in white middle class drug addiction and suicide.
Millions of Americans know their futures and hopes for their families are diminished if not forever, then for generations.
Truthfully, aside for Bernie Sanders, no candidate dares present an economic and social platform that favors more everyday working Americans shifting the priorities of politics back to meeting the common good for more Americans
3
One of the unfortunate consequences of unbridled, pure capitalism is that wealth is destined to accumulate to the owners of capital and production, while wage earners are stuck at their mercy and at the mercy of supply and demand. That happened during the boom in the Gilded Age and is happening again now, where the top 1% gets ~50% (approx) of the income. We were lucky in the WWII era to be a monopolist manufacturer and exporter to the rest of the western world, which was greatly damaged by the war, and during which wage workers were highly demanded. (Did you know that there was a 'golden age of the middle class' in the circa 1350-1450 era, due to the massive loss of wage workers due to the Black Death coupled with the demand to maintain fiefs and to provide merchant and city-type jobs?) Unfortunately we are at the mercy of competition, and our monopolist manufacturer position has eroded. It's not to say that the position of wage workers is destined to be bad; it's just that we are still experiencing the negative portion of the last cycle. I'm optimistic that American wage workers will prosper, but as always the pathway there is not very clear.
1
Have we finally reached Jimmy Carter's 'malaise?' That is, even though things are pretty good domestically, the general public is still in a 'funk.'
7
Jimmy Carter's biggest mistake was to treat the American voter like an adult.
Hollywood Reagan's greatest strength was to treat his base of simplistic rightist supporters like good little boys and girls.
Ronnie always had some nice hard candy in his purse for his clueless base.
America does better when run by an American.
We wallow when we let some confederate boob like Bush run things.
Hollywood Reagan's greatest strength was to treat his base of simplistic rightist supporters like good little boys and girls.
Ronnie always had some nice hard candy in his purse for his clueless base.
America does better when run by an American.
We wallow when we let some confederate boob like Bush run things.
6
Actually, every Republican/Tea Party debate and every one of Trump, Cruz, Rubio, Bush, Christie, et a's campaign speeches is channeling malaise.
All that's missing is Jimmy's sweater in front of the fireplace.
All that's missing is Jimmy's sweater in front of the fireplace.
3
Let's talk cognitive dissonance shall we?
Bush lands on a aircraft carrier under the banner 'Mission Accomplished' and here we are nearly 13 years later and the turmoil created by the flawed policies of that administration are still being felt. The clean up is never as heady as the party that preceded it. Being a reasonable person who cultivates peace is never as headline grabbing as 'carpet bombing' but the impact of Mr. Carter's actions as a peace maker is more subtle than Mr. Reagan's saber rattling, but it's what we as a nation should aspire to. Being a grown up is not always easy nor lauded.
Bush lands on a aircraft carrier under the banner 'Mission Accomplished' and here we are nearly 13 years later and the turmoil created by the flawed policies of that administration are still being felt. The clean up is never as heady as the party that preceded it. Being a reasonable person who cultivates peace is never as headline grabbing as 'carpet bombing' but the impact of Mr. Carter's actions as a peace maker is more subtle than Mr. Reagan's saber rattling, but it's what we as a nation should aspire to. Being a grown up is not always easy nor lauded.
9
I work in renewables. No complains here - got a 10% raise and a bonus equal to 18%of my annual salary for 2015.
I am not concern about ISIS - they are a regional problem. No concerns about Iran and their nukes.
of course living in AZ, this means a far right state government who's only focus is cutting taxes - this with our education system at dead last. Good thing my children are grown and were educated in a another state.
My only real concern would be a Republican Congress and President. Now that image is scary.
I am not concern about ISIS - they are a regional problem. No concerns about Iran and their nukes.
of course living in AZ, this means a far right state government who's only focus is cutting taxes - this with our education system at dead last. Good thing my children are grown and were educated in a another state.
My only real concern would be a Republican Congress and President. Now that image is scary.
8
President O'Bama deserves a world of credit for working with the hand he was dealt. All those crackpot Republicans did their best to bring him down. And Donald J. Trump is not even mentioned by the President.
Want a bigger crackpot that Donnie Trump? No? Okay.
Ten years from today, O'Bama's legacy will still be debated but nobody will say he showed more moderation in his views than either of his opponents.
Want a bigger crackpot that Donnie Trump? No? Okay.
Ten years from today, O'Bama's legacy will still be debated but nobody will say he showed more moderation in his views than either of his opponents.
2
Should Mr. Trump become the Republican nominee, I'm looking forward to the campaign ad that resurrects Mr. Obama's take-down of Mr. Trump at the White House Correspondents Dinner a few years ago. Hilarious!
1
With a labor participation rate still so low you can hardly sya that America has gone back to work. Lying about this is just adding insult to injury to those affected!
5
I am so much better off than when he took office, as is everyone I know. I have more security at work, better pay, and of course, medical insurance which I couldn't afford. Thank you President Obama!
11
If people continue to vote for the GOP they will continue to see policies that favor the 1%. They will continue to see trickle down economics. There will be continued talk of how bad the ACA is and probable success in repealing it. Look at what is happening to Kynect in Kentucky. People voted in a Republican and he's going to undo it to "save" money. If you like hearing politicians talk about cutting taxes without mentioning what disappears once that is done, continue to vote for the GOP. If you like having a rotting infrastructure, hazardous rail service, an internet that is slower than Europe's or Asia's, a wealthcare system that bankrupts those who have chronic medical conditions, overpaid CEOs, the Koch Brothers running things, vote for the GOP. But don't complain that Obama was a weak president. The GOP said that they would not work with him as soon as he was elected. They, not Obama, are part of the reason the recovery has been so poor for the middle and working classes of America.
Things may not be as bad as they could have been. However, the GOP has made certain that things are not that great. Our social safety net is useless. Our wealthcare system, even with the ACA, ranks among the worst in the civilized world. Our salaries have not kept pace with the increased cost of living for the last 35 years or more. Trickle down economics, even though it doesn't work, continues to be the GOP standard along with bigotry and stupidity.
Things may not be as bad as they could have been. However, the GOP has made certain that things are not that great. Our social safety net is useless. Our wealthcare system, even with the ACA, ranks among the worst in the civilized world. Our salaries have not kept pace with the increased cost of living for the last 35 years or more. Trickle down economics, even though it doesn't work, continues to be the GOP standard along with bigotry and stupidity.
11
Paul Krugman was correct the stimulus was too small and we needed to have infrastructure repairs. Fdr got things done.
When we get into an angry mood we may elect a man who reflects our frustrations but each party has ways to make electoral votes get distorted.
I hope we elect an independent but time is running out. Americans identify with that party.
I say time is running out since peoples patience is getting tried.
When we get into an angry mood we may elect a man who reflects our frustrations but each party has ways to make electoral votes get distorted.
I hope we elect an independent but time is running out. Americans identify with that party.
I say time is running out since peoples patience is getting tried.
I was hit hard in 2008 and have not recovered at all. My 401k is no where near where it was then. Retirement?
Every last senator / congressperson currently sitting in the Rotunda is completely out of touch with their constituencies. They are wined and dined by lobbyists, they live like kings while we are given scraps. I know many people who are out of work and stopped looking. Sad state of affairs and it's not just a republican thing. It's greed pure and simple on both sides of the aisle with no end in sight. When will they listen?
Every last senator / congressperson currently sitting in the Rotunda is completely out of touch with their constituencies. They are wined and dined by lobbyists, they live like kings while we are given scraps. I know many people who are out of work and stopped looking. Sad state of affairs and it's not just a republican thing. It's greed pure and simple on both sides of the aisle with no end in sight. When will they listen?
40
Root, they will never listen. They don't have to because they get their campaign money from donors who have much more to give and can assure that they get re-elected whether or not they represent those who vote for them.
As a single woman I've never made as much as I would have if I were a man in the same field. When the corporations decided that it was better for their bottom line to have us fund our retirements I wasn't making enough to set aside money but I was making too much to use the IRA deduction. When I was unemployed I went through half of my savings. It took me 10 years to make that money back. Then, 13 years later, I was downsized once again. I was glad that all my money was in a liquid state. I didn't have to pay any penalties for using it to survive.
However, I've decided that should I contract a fatal disease that is treatable, I will not get any treatment but that which is palliative. I no longer want to live in a country that considers me useless, refuses to provide an adequate safety net while giving out corporate welfare, and tells me that something is wrong with me when I can't find a job because employers don't want to hire anyone over the age of 40, or with experience, or that needs some training, or that has family. Staying healthy in America is a prelude to a poverty stricken old age, long term unemployment, and other "lovely" ailments of unfettered capitalism.
As a single woman I've never made as much as I would have if I were a man in the same field. When the corporations decided that it was better for their bottom line to have us fund our retirements I wasn't making enough to set aside money but I was making too much to use the IRA deduction. When I was unemployed I went through half of my savings. It took me 10 years to make that money back. Then, 13 years later, I was downsized once again. I was glad that all my money was in a liquid state. I didn't have to pay any penalties for using it to survive.
However, I've decided that should I contract a fatal disease that is treatable, I will not get any treatment but that which is palliative. I no longer want to live in a country that considers me useless, refuses to provide an adequate safety net while giving out corporate welfare, and tells me that something is wrong with me when I can't find a job because employers don't want to hire anyone over the age of 40, or with experience, or that needs some training, or that has family. Staying healthy in America is a prelude to a poverty stricken old age, long term unemployment, and other "lovely" ailments of unfettered capitalism.
9
The GOP's use of brute force, ignorance, and the art of "The Big Lie" creates the illusion that things are far worse than they actually are.
And, the same propaganda program prevents us from addressing the issues (income inequality, broken tax and immigration systems, crumbling infra-structure, climate change, etc etc) that would make things a lot better.
Ironically, the GOP may be better positioned now to get programs signed into law that are (on balance) more favorable to them that after the 2016 elections -- which will either see a move toward the Democrats in Congress or the election of a GOP President resulting in a revolution led by residents of America's "Blue" states.
And, the same propaganda program prevents us from addressing the issues (income inequality, broken tax and immigration systems, crumbling infra-structure, climate change, etc etc) that would make things a lot better.
Ironically, the GOP may be better positioned now to get programs signed into law that are (on balance) more favorable to them that after the 2016 elections -- which will either see a move toward the Democrats in Congress or the election of a GOP President resulting in a revolution led by residents of America's "Blue" states.
2
When you say, Mr. Covert: "The Democratic candidates’ focus has been on how to increase middle class incomes" you are wrong!
Bernie Sanders has since the beginning of his campaign been railing against the fact of inequality and pressing for a minimum wage of $15/hour, or a living wage. This would help all hourly workers, especially people at the lower end of the economic ladder, not just the middle class. You as an economic editor should know better. What is the reason for your misstatement? I'd really love to know.
Bernie Sanders has since the beginning of his campaign been railing against the fact of inequality and pressing for a minimum wage of $15/hour, or a living wage. This would help all hourly workers, especially people at the lower end of the economic ladder, not just the middle class. You as an economic editor should know better. What is the reason for your misstatement? I'd really love to know.
1
Both President Obama and Mr. Covert present misleading information about the state of the US economy and the so-called dropping unemployment rate. A more accurate reading is the employment-to-population ratio. This concept is explained correctly in Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment-to-population_ratio
The Wikipedia article is accompanied by a chart that shows clearly that the proportion of the country's working-age population that is employed is significantly lower than it was prior to 2008. Many people have stopped looking for work. The number of people now collecting disability payments under Social Security has also escalated during this period.
Actions of the president of the United States are only very indirectly related to the state of the economy. The financial crisis that led to the most recent economic downturn was largely created by Wall Street and made significantly worse by the misguided actions of the Federal Reserve Bank.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment-to-population_ratio
The Wikipedia article is accompanied by a chart that shows clearly that the proportion of the country's working-age population that is employed is significantly lower than it was prior to 2008. Many people have stopped looking for work. The number of people now collecting disability payments under Social Security has also escalated during this period.
Actions of the president of the United States are only very indirectly related to the state of the economy. The financial crisis that led to the most recent economic downturn was largely created by Wall Street and made significantly worse by the misguided actions of the Federal Reserve Bank.
3
Yes prior to a great depression that came at the end of about 8 years of almost complete Republican control of government. Then Obama came to office in 2009. How stupid do Republicans think we are that we will blame Obama for things that happened before he was president?
Americans need to realize that there is something called competition. Americans today face competition from so many areas that they are not going to be happy, if ever. They face competition from other people both locally and globally, outsourcing, and automation. No matter who is the next President, this is not going to change. In fact, it will get worse. People have to understand that their only job security is their ability to learn faster than their competition. And for some, this is not going to be enough.
Welcome to the new reality.
Welcome to the new reality.
1
It's sadly ironic to see that the fiscal conservatives and their do nothiningest congress blame President Obama for their inaction on mortgage relief, infrastructure rebuilding, and job retraining; which left main street out of the recovery. President Roosevelt created all kinds of jobs just to get, things going.
Can anyone imagine this congress approving funds for murals inside of San Francisco's iconic Coit tower or paying a photographer to travel around the country taking the pictures that captured the suffering of our people?
Can anyone imagine this congress approving funds for murals inside of San Francisco's iconic Coit tower or paying a photographer to travel around the country taking the pictures that captured the suffering of our people?
5
Imagine what might have happened had democrats not stayed home from the polls in 2010 and 2014. Disappointed democrats gave the congress to the republicans and the republicans have committed sedition ever since.
Imagine what might have been.
Then imagine what will happen if democrats stay home in November. Think things are bad now?
Bernie would help to stem the power of the 1%, but Hillary would be second best. Trump, Cruz? Not even close.
Imagine what might have been.
Then imagine what will happen if democrats stay home in November. Think things are bad now?
Bernie would help to stem the power of the 1%, but Hillary would be second best. Trump, Cruz? Not even close.
8
In my six decades, six Democrats President for thirty years and six Republicans President for thirty-six. All following FDR, depression and war.
Dad was right, I am very lucky by birth year and to live during this time. Of the dozen Presidents, Roosevelt - the one I can only read about, and Obama - the one I will never forget, made a lasting difference.
They both inspire that greatest of natural American endowments - living without fear. I can say now, at this age: Wisdom is knowing the difference between worry and fear. Courage is tested only by the latter.
Doing well, Mr. Roosevelt, Mr. Obama. Thank you.
Dad was right, I am very lucky by birth year and to live during this time. Of the dozen Presidents, Roosevelt - the one I can only read about, and Obama - the one I will never forget, made a lasting difference.
They both inspire that greatest of natural American endowments - living without fear. I can say now, at this age: Wisdom is knowing the difference between worry and fear. Courage is tested only by the latter.
Doing well, Mr. Roosevelt, Mr. Obama. Thank you.
34
Maybe Americans are in denial about the greatness of the very earth beneath their feet? Could it be time Americans should cease listening with both ears to the very negative words of self-proclaimed leaders, ostensibly positive people seeking national office?
Me thinks the constitution of the American spirit, if you will, the grist in all of us, does not need the infusion of bleak words: we will thrive.
Me thinks the constitution of the American spirit, if you will, the grist in all of us, does not need the infusion of bleak words: we will thrive.
1
Granted, we have an economic system that is rigged to disadvantage nearly everyone except the rich. And a dysfunctional political system that perpetuates this. Unfortunately the electorate is ignorant about the forces responsible for its decline. That is the sorry state of the union.
7
The task of anyone who wants to accomplish anything is to bring along those who might help him/her, or who could stand in his way.
This President attempted to do that by uttering the immortal (and obvious, so generally left unsaid) words: "Elections have consequences".
Indeed they do, as you've learned since then, Mr. President.
But, way to go, Sir. Remind all those whose help you need that they are the losers.
They will then jump through hoops to help you. Really!
This President attempted to do that by uttering the immortal (and obvious, so generally left unsaid) words: "Elections have consequences".
Indeed they do, as you've learned since then, Mr. President.
But, way to go, Sir. Remind all those whose help you need that they are the losers.
They will then jump through hoops to help you. Really!
1
Obviously most of these commenters are very young. They don't remember the dismal 70's, the stagnant 80's or the first Bush recession--and seem to have forgotten the second Bush Great Recession. if you think the GOP policies will help you in any way, you deserve what you get. Wake up.
10
Notice that Ted Cruz loudly proclaimed that rather than attend the State of the Union, he had a date with a Canadian curling match. Figures, since he's a Canadian. Personally, since his colleagues don't like him, I think he was nervous about being in close quarters with them. Never know when someone is going to stick a large tack on your seat. ;-D
5
The blame starts and stops on Wall-street.
3
If Republican and Democrat governors and senators complain about wage stagnation and lack of growth then why isn't the minimum wage in their states at least $15/hr? This is something they have the power to change and yet don't.
10
This is what is wrong with this administration. Just like dealing with your children attempting to mandate and control outcomes very frequently accomplishes the opposite of what you are shooting for.
Raise minimum wages - price out job entrants who need time in employment to learn how to work and get higher paying jobs, encourage automation of minimum wage jobs (electronic tellers in fast food joints).
Regulate banking to hell and bank, remove the valid risk functions they DID perform pre and during the crisis to make this one worse (by the way the simplest way to fix this is 0 regulation other than strict fraud & insider trading rules BUT unlimited executive/partner/board financial liability - would Dick Fuld have run lehman into the ground if his art collection and mansion were at risk???).
This president is a decent prepared speaker but no negotiator or charmer, and certainly no leader in the Clinton/FDR mode - he is a narcissist and this is all about HIS legacy not the country. That is why we are here.
Raise minimum wages - price out job entrants who need time in employment to learn how to work and get higher paying jobs, encourage automation of minimum wage jobs (electronic tellers in fast food joints).
Regulate banking to hell and bank, remove the valid risk functions they DID perform pre and during the crisis to make this one worse (by the way the simplest way to fix this is 0 regulation other than strict fraud & insider trading rules BUT unlimited executive/partner/board financial liability - would Dick Fuld have run lehman into the ground if his art collection and mansion were at risk???).
This president is a decent prepared speaker but no negotiator or charmer, and certainly no leader in the Clinton/FDR mode - he is a narcissist and this is all about HIS legacy not the country. That is why we are here.
1
The State of the Union is only as strong as to who you ask.
For Wall St./corporate/banking America it's a boondoggle, on the gravy train.
For the average American, not so much. A good indicator is the amount of children living in poverty and people collecting disability. We're mostly poor.
Capitalism is failing us. The checks and balances to make it more equitable are not being checked nor balanced. The TPP part of Obama's speech was derelict.
For Wall St./corporate/banking America it's a boondoggle, on the gravy train.
For the average American, not so much. A good indicator is the amount of children living in poverty and people collecting disability. We're mostly poor.
Capitalism is failing us. The checks and balances to make it more equitable are not being checked nor balanced. The TPP part of Obama's speech was derelict.
5
The only movement in this country to change income inequality is that of Bernie Sanders. Hillary's surtax on those earning over $ 5 million is laughably inadequate.
We must get behind Bernie and then elect a Democratic congress.
We must get behind Bernie and then elect a Democratic congress.
11
W must lead ahead of Bernie and ahead of congress. We must create a movement to fix democracy and force Bernie and congress to do it.
Without constant pressure from the people the government will keep on catering to billionaires no matter who is elected.
Without constant pressure from the people the government will keep on catering to billionaires no matter who is elected.
When measured by GDP, the economy is strong. When measured by income growth of wage earning people, the economy is in ruins. If this were not true, neither Trump nor Sanders would have significant traction. When people are angry, they want to throw out the bums.
5
What does one expect with the Reagan/Clintonian economic models - There is no longer a need to pay people interest on their savings accounts. There is no longer anything such as company based retirement and less and less so in terms of healthcare. Increasingly the burden of paying for this countries huge needs are landed squarely on the increasingly narrower shoulders of the middle to lower middle class tax payer. The wealthy do not come close to paying their fair share of taxes as they did in the 70's and prior.
That's why we don't feel that great about the economy. It's not Obama's fault. the previous power brokers with their political operatives insured that the only way to get elected and then actually do something was to essentially leave this whole new (since 1981) economic model alone. Hell, they've even added their own faux news network to continually sell their bill of goods to people who have no inkling of how things got the way they are.
This whole new, "the middle classes will pay for our lifestyle" was a product of the go go go years during the Reagan/Wall Street evolution.
That's why we don't feel that great about the economy. It's not Obama's fault. the previous power brokers with their political operatives insured that the only way to get elected and then actually do something was to essentially leave this whole new (since 1981) economic model alone. Hell, they've even added their own faux news network to continually sell their bill of goods to people who have no inkling of how things got the way they are.
This whole new, "the middle classes will pay for our lifestyle" was a product of the go go go years during the Reagan/Wall Street evolution.
5
Thank you for pointing out the abysmally low interest rates that someone can earn on saving account money. Both of my young daughters have savings accounts. They earned $0.01 each in interest last quarter! I don't think that will help them pay for college in ten years.
2
The economy has experienced a "remarkable" turnaround.
But it "feels" bad.
The Great Recession is a "thing of the past".
So again, the elitist view expressed here is that the little people just don't get it, it's mostly psychological, and we have to condescendingly coddle them and say "it's fantastic but we have to do more" ... we have to say it but we don't really believe it, we think we've done great ... but you know, the little people are not rational, something about guns and religion ....
In the meantime, housing starts are at less than half of their peak last decade, and at about 65% off their 50-year average. Touting the unemployment rate, the "unemployment rate", a fantasy statistic, to be 5% borders on dishonesty.
And, as the article says, or, shall we say, admits, "that positive change has yet to filter down into most people’s pockets", so that positive change is a tough selling point.
You must be kidding. It is all about people's pockets. If the change isn't filtering down, there IS no positive change, lying statistics notwithstanding.
The game is rigged and judging by this article you are part of the rigging.
But it "feels" bad.
The Great Recession is a "thing of the past".
So again, the elitist view expressed here is that the little people just don't get it, it's mostly psychological, and we have to condescendingly coddle them and say "it's fantastic but we have to do more" ... we have to say it but we don't really believe it, we think we've done great ... but you know, the little people are not rational, something about guns and religion ....
In the meantime, housing starts are at less than half of their peak last decade, and at about 65% off their 50-year average. Touting the unemployment rate, the "unemployment rate", a fantasy statistic, to be 5% borders on dishonesty.
And, as the article says, or, shall we say, admits, "that positive change has yet to filter down into most people’s pockets", so that positive change is a tough selling point.
You must be kidding. It is all about people's pockets. If the change isn't filtering down, there IS no positive change, lying statistics notwithstanding.
The game is rigged and judging by this article you are part of the rigging.
8
Yes, the fact that the economy has "turned around" is a tough selling point when middle-class Americans still feel the pinch of the mistakes going back decades. But the Republicans truck in negativity and fear, so they will acknowledge nothing good, and will "peddle fiction" to the masses willing to buy into their agenda.
1
Misuse of by the president to campaign against the Republicans, against Trump and support the Democrats. This is not bringing America together or both sides of the aisle. I once had a Pastor that said that Christians need to forget their differences and come together and than he went out and quoted another Christian religion and condemned it. He, like Obama talks the talks, but don't walk the walk.
1
Now consider the Republican claim that "Obama, the big spender, doubled the federal debt."
The best measure of federal debt compares debt to GDP, and the latest data show this measure at 100.5% GDP, down from a peak of 103.6% in FY2013. The declining real debt level should drop below 98% before the last Obama budget year ends. Obama inherited a debt level of 82.8% after Bush's last FY, with a record annual budget deficit driving debt up a rate of 10% GDP per year.
Why has the real debt level been dropping?
Go to the St. Louis Fed site, and look at government receipts and outlays.
Receipts Outlays Deficit
2009 2,104,989 3,517,677 -1,412,688 (Bush's last budget year began Oct 2008)
2010 2,162,706 3,457,079 -1,294,373
2011 2,303,466 3,603,059 -1,299,593
2012 2,449,988 3,536,951 -1,086,963
2013 2,775,103 3,454,647 -679,544
2014 3,021,487 3,506,089 -484,602
2015 3,248,723 3,687,612 -438,889
Bush average spending increased 7% annually. Obama's spending was constrained to 0.8% annually over the six budget years. Most economists believe this rate of increase is too low, and contributed to slower GDP growth than optimal.
What decreased the deficit so dramatically?
Look what happened between FY2012 and FY2014... The Tea Party shut the government down, demanding the continuation of the Bush tax cuts. But Obama forced expiration of the most injurious Bush tax cuts. And that was the end of $trillion deficits, and real debt increases.
The best measure of federal debt compares debt to GDP, and the latest data show this measure at 100.5% GDP, down from a peak of 103.6% in FY2013. The declining real debt level should drop below 98% before the last Obama budget year ends. Obama inherited a debt level of 82.8% after Bush's last FY, with a record annual budget deficit driving debt up a rate of 10% GDP per year.
Why has the real debt level been dropping?
Go to the St. Louis Fed site, and look at government receipts and outlays.
Receipts Outlays Deficit
2009 2,104,989 3,517,677 -1,412,688 (Bush's last budget year began Oct 2008)
2010 2,162,706 3,457,079 -1,294,373
2011 2,303,466 3,603,059 -1,299,593
2012 2,449,988 3,536,951 -1,086,963
2013 2,775,103 3,454,647 -679,544
2014 3,021,487 3,506,089 -484,602
2015 3,248,723 3,687,612 -438,889
Bush average spending increased 7% annually. Obama's spending was constrained to 0.8% annually over the six budget years. Most economists believe this rate of increase is too low, and contributed to slower GDP growth than optimal.
What decreased the deficit so dramatically?
Look what happened between FY2012 and FY2014... The Tea Party shut the government down, demanding the continuation of the Bush tax cuts. But Obama forced expiration of the most injurious Bush tax cuts. And that was the end of $trillion deficits, and real debt increases.
3
Income inequality is feeding radical groups from young in poor neighborhoods giving the police a real challenge, to those who view ISIS as a "why not?" choice.
Are those super wealthy who's greedy actions foster disgust and hatred among the hopeless any less guilty than those those who react to their situation in a violent way?
As humans, we do not know what is in people's heart, true. But there are streets in any major city one would not stroll down for fear of immediate harm. They need money or just don't care and there you are, helpless, afraid and maybe assaulted.
Next time you walk through a wealthy neighborhood, oh, sorry, it is probably "gated" and you cannot even get in. If you do, you probably won't get mugged, but many of these people feel equally uncomfortable that you are around! You may not get mugged, but some will work to keep you far from themselves, economically. Slower, but just as painful.
Realize the super-greedy are the ones harming the nation, causing unrest and fostering crime. It will turn around, eventually, it always does, but the fallout could be extreme for all of us.
Stop them now. Vote. Make no mistake, for some, wealthy or poor, this world is it. There is nothing after this life, so they believe. They will do anything, anything to maintain or improve their status. Only if you think and vote will you feel more secure.
And next time you drive past a "Gated Community" remember why the fences are there.
Are those super wealthy who's greedy actions foster disgust and hatred among the hopeless any less guilty than those those who react to their situation in a violent way?
As humans, we do not know what is in people's heart, true. But there are streets in any major city one would not stroll down for fear of immediate harm. They need money or just don't care and there you are, helpless, afraid and maybe assaulted.
Next time you walk through a wealthy neighborhood, oh, sorry, it is probably "gated" and you cannot even get in. If you do, you probably won't get mugged, but many of these people feel equally uncomfortable that you are around! You may not get mugged, but some will work to keep you far from themselves, economically. Slower, but just as painful.
Realize the super-greedy are the ones harming the nation, causing unrest and fostering crime. It will turn around, eventually, it always does, but the fallout could be extreme for all of us.
Stop them now. Vote. Make no mistake, for some, wealthy or poor, this world is it. There is nothing after this life, so they believe. They will do anything, anything to maintain or improve their status. Only if you think and vote will you feel more secure.
And next time you drive past a "Gated Community" remember why the fences are there.
2
Obama promised to cut the deficit in half in 2008. It was 10T$ and now sits at 19T$.
That is such a tremendous increase it is hard to fathom. It took 200+ years to get to 10T and he doubled it in 7 years. Our whole country has been funded on new debt during his reign.
The economy is not strong.
That is such a tremendous increase it is hard to fathom. It took 200+ years to get to 10T and he doubled it in 7 years. Our whole country has been funded on new debt during his reign.
The economy is not strong.
1
Sometimes it seems to me,from the criticism hurled at President Obama, that there is an unconscious blaming of him for climate change, and the terrible difficulties it has brought to the World and particularly its effect on America.
"During the debates, nearly every Republican candidate has brandished the fact that wages have been stagnant for decades. The Democratic candidates’ focus has been on how to increase middle class incomes".
And yet the republican candidates refuse to raise minimum wages. What hypocrisy
And yet the republican candidates refuse to raise minimum wages. What hypocrisy
5
Has combating the rise of inequality ever been on Obama's to do list? Can he claim this with a straight face as he pushes for TPP?
2
The state of the union can never be strong when there is a vast right-wing conspiracy to disinform, dumb down and shrink the IQ of much of the electorate and feed them fantasy, fiction, fear and fakery.
Question #24 ( and poll answers) from this month's poll of Iowa voters:
Do you think Barack Obama was born in the United States ?
Yes 28%
No 43%
Not Sure 30%
http://www.scribd.com/doc/295216892/Public-Policy-Polling-Iowa-GOP-results
For the record, Barack Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961; Hawaii is part of the United States.
https://goo.gl/FjPjfc
Question #35 from the same poll:
President Obama teared up while announcing an executive action on gun control this week. Do you think his tears were sincere, or do you think he faked them?
Obama’s tears were sincere 16%
Obama’s tears were fake 69 %
Not sure 15%
When you have so many disinformed citizens so detached from basic reality by the right-wing propaganda-industrial complex, democracy cannot function...and thanks to Fake News and hate radio, America doesn't function.
The right-wing knows what sells in America - carefully marketed lies and more lies - and that's how they continue to sell America down a nihilistic river of psychopathic greed.
Greed Over People makes for a pretty lousy country.
The state of the union is non-stop right-wing sedition and subversion of American democracy.
America's right-wing economic and propaganda terrorists have won.
Question #24 ( and poll answers) from this month's poll of Iowa voters:
Do you think Barack Obama was born in the United States ?
Yes 28%
No 43%
Not Sure 30%
http://www.scribd.com/doc/295216892/Public-Policy-Polling-Iowa-GOP-results
For the record, Barack Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961; Hawaii is part of the United States.
https://goo.gl/FjPjfc
Question #35 from the same poll:
President Obama teared up while announcing an executive action on gun control this week. Do you think his tears were sincere, or do you think he faked them?
Obama’s tears were sincere 16%
Obama’s tears were fake 69 %
Not sure 15%
When you have so many disinformed citizens so detached from basic reality by the right-wing propaganda-industrial complex, democracy cannot function...and thanks to Fake News and hate radio, America doesn't function.
The right-wing knows what sells in America - carefully marketed lies and more lies - and that's how they continue to sell America down a nihilistic river of psychopathic greed.
Greed Over People makes for a pretty lousy country.
The state of the union is non-stop right-wing sedition and subversion of American democracy.
America's right-wing economic and propaganda terrorists have won.
70
"Given that positive change has yet to filter down into most people’s pockets, it’s a tough selling point." Very well put. Thank you,
My own take is that the country is looking for political MOVEMENTS which will motivate people to change and to grow the economy. On the Right you have the Conservative movement to reduce government. But on the Left there does not seem to be much of a movement. The anger and enthusiasm is on the Right, but not on the Left.
However, I believe that if Hillary Clinton is elected there will be a movement for upward mobility for women, minorities and others who feel hopeless. I think that having our first woman president could be huge. Clinton, as president would remind us every day about our inequalities. She would be inspiring.
But so far, there has been no dramatic Hillary Clinton message about having a woman president. In fact, she seems ashamed to dwell on this. So, Clinton's campaign sags and the American people look for signs of hope.
Obama' "Audacity of Hope" is missing. Maybe Hillary Clinton can find it, while there is still time...
My own take is that the country is looking for political MOVEMENTS which will motivate people to change and to grow the economy. On the Right you have the Conservative movement to reduce government. But on the Left there does not seem to be much of a movement. The anger and enthusiasm is on the Right, but not on the Left.
However, I believe that if Hillary Clinton is elected there will be a movement for upward mobility for women, minorities and others who feel hopeless. I think that having our first woman president could be huge. Clinton, as president would remind us every day about our inequalities. She would be inspiring.
But so far, there has been no dramatic Hillary Clinton message about having a woman president. In fact, she seems ashamed to dwell on this. So, Clinton's campaign sags and the American people look for signs of hope.
Obama' "Audacity of Hope" is missing. Maybe Hillary Clinton can find it, while there is still time...
16
You are probably the only person she is aspiring.
Lets look at her CV, the dishonored wife of a former president. A Senator for one term who had accomplished nothing, but be the wife of a dishonored president. A por/failed secretary of State. This is a resume of a politican that should "hide her face".
But, she made millions from speeches and the NYT loves her so this disingenuous arrogant WEALTHY politican has admirers. So, I guess Jackie Kennedy/Onassis should have been president as well!
Lets look at her CV, the dishonored wife of a former president. A Senator for one term who had accomplished nothing, but be the wife of a dishonored president. A por/failed secretary of State. This is a resume of a politican that should "hide her face".
But, she made millions from speeches and the NYT loves her so this disingenuous arrogant WEALTHY politican has admirers. So, I guess Jackie Kennedy/Onassis should have been president as well!
1
Or just possibly that other advocate for women, minorities and the hopeless, Bernie Sanders? Not "Right", not "Left" -- very much his own man and willing to work "both sides of the aisle".
1
That many working class Americans believe that by cutting taxes on the wealthy and getting rid of environmental and other regulations their economic status will improve once again or that they are more likely to die at the hands of a terrorist than a street criminal or a crazed mass killer with an assault weapon supports the validity of H.L. Mencken's famous dictum that no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.
4
President Obama's accomplishments have been impressive despite the hole he had to dig us out of, all the road blocks, aging demographics, automation, etc. Imagine what we could have achieved if Congress had helped. Imagine how quickly the Republicans could destroy the middle class and take us into a Feudal system.
3
Dr. Covert notes, "voters mostly feel that the economy still has a way to go until they will personally feel financially secure".
True, but in fact it's only when the economy is jacked up on the cocaine of unsustainable tax cuts and off the rails deregulation of Wall Street that Americans can feel good for a while. Then the high plays out.
After each wreck, the 1% have their puppets in congress play the same "trickle down" tune to the little people [and a tsunami up to the rich] about how we just need to set free "the best and the brightest" and "the job creators" and we are off to the races again.
For the 99% indeed, the economy just trickles down and every decade or so, goes dry.
The day might be dawning when voters no longer follow the tune of the 1% given the poll numbers lately.
Maybe the 99% will recover their stolen wealth from the 1% returning The American Dream to those who worked for it.
True, but in fact it's only when the economy is jacked up on the cocaine of unsustainable tax cuts and off the rails deregulation of Wall Street that Americans can feel good for a while. Then the high plays out.
After each wreck, the 1% have their puppets in congress play the same "trickle down" tune to the little people [and a tsunami up to the rich] about how we just need to set free "the best and the brightest" and "the job creators" and we are off to the races again.
For the 99% indeed, the economy just trickles down and every decade or so, goes dry.
The day might be dawning when voters no longer follow the tune of the 1% given the poll numbers lately.
Maybe the 99% will recover their stolen wealth from the 1% returning The American Dream to those who worked for it.
4
Overall good piece, but I'm not sure why Mr. Bryce chooses to stay on the side of technical accuracy with 7.2% unemployment when Obama took office (true enough): the more significant number is that within a few short months of taking office, it had soared to 10%, so the real difference between now and the start of Obama's presidency is that it has gone down by half. Important difference.
The President's speech was designed to rev up Dems for the election, and he did a great job. Particularly at the end it was high impact, emotional, and very poignant. A huge evocation, and even vindication of that earlier mantra, "Yes, we can," and a reminder that "we are the change we want to see in the world. "
The reality that the President did not focus on, though it seemed clear he wished he could, is that we are increasingly an oligopoly. He mentioned money in politics, and corresponding political corrosiveness, but the third piece of that is the media, virtually all of it in the control of corporate interests that in turn puts lots of money into candidates' pockets. Corporate media, MSNBC nothwithstanding (and even they don't truly offer a leftward view, only one slightly more left of center than everyone else, at least for part of the time!) tends overwhelmingly to foster, repeat, and push right wing ideas.We do not have an independent Fourth Estate. And without that, and until or unless money is less a factor,we won't be removing the noxious elements from our politics any time soon.
The President's speech was designed to rev up Dems for the election, and he did a great job. Particularly at the end it was high impact, emotional, and very poignant. A huge evocation, and even vindication of that earlier mantra, "Yes, we can," and a reminder that "we are the change we want to see in the world. "
The reality that the President did not focus on, though it seemed clear he wished he could, is that we are increasingly an oligopoly. He mentioned money in politics, and corresponding political corrosiveness, but the third piece of that is the media, virtually all of it in the control of corporate interests that in turn puts lots of money into candidates' pockets. Corporate media, MSNBC nothwithstanding (and even they don't truly offer a leftward view, only one slightly more left of center than everyone else, at least for part of the time!) tends overwhelmingly to foster, repeat, and push right wing ideas.We do not have an independent Fourth Estate. And without that, and until or unless money is less a factor,we won't be removing the noxious elements from our politics any time soon.
2
Look no further to understand why Bernie Sanders is moving up in the polls. Socialism used to be a dirty word in American politics, but now it is beginning to sound pretty good. There are two things which have the potential to split this country: economic inequality, which is now at the top of all OECD countries, and internet-based opinion which creates two different virtual realities. Hopefully, our next generation of political leaders will have the leadership to brings the two sides a little closer.
5
Bernie Sanders is the only candidate to really address income inequality. Hilary would only put a surcharge on those who earn more than $5 million! That is way too high. And what about helping the poor? Bernie has promised to do that. Vote for Sanders for increased income equality.
8
There may be pockets of recovery and strength, but those of us living away from Washington DC and some of the other better off areas see on a daily basis many good, hardworking, previously doing well families struggling to do paycheck to paycheck, at best.
Of course this opinion piece also doesn't see the enormous population of this country that is similarly struggling, and to say the emperor has no clothes is hard to do, but dreaming and hoping doesn't make it so.
The State of The Union was intended to be that, not a campaign speech for the outgoing president's party or himself when seeking a second term.
In that regard, the SOTU address has been a failure and mockery for decades.
But it gets everyone clapping enthusiastically.
Of course this opinion piece also doesn't see the enormous population of this country that is similarly struggling, and to say the emperor has no clothes is hard to do, but dreaming and hoping doesn't make it so.
The State of The Union was intended to be that, not a campaign speech for the outgoing president's party or himself when seeking a second term.
In that regard, the SOTU address has been a failure and mockery for decades.
But it gets everyone clapping enthusiastically.
1
How much of that State of the Union was basically Bernie Sanders' stump speech? Taking money out of politics, cheaper college, higher minimum wage, equal pay, paid family leave, etc. Sounded like a veiled endorsement if I ever heard one -- even though Mr. Sanders has talked about such issues his entire life.
4
There was a time, not long ago, when the one thing all politicians preached was that America was a great nation, in promise if not individual deed, with the capacity to do great things. In addition, no matter how rancorous the debate, no one "hated America" save a tiny fringe.
That's all the President was saying. Let's get back to that place, immediately.
That's all the President was saying. Let's get back to that place, immediately.
26
Let's face it, neoliberalism is alive, well and flourishing in America. Obama did a good job of painting a picture of a promising future, but the policies of neoliberalism will trump, no pun intended, that promise. It has been a slow process, some might even say insidious, but we now have a society based on class. And the rich are different.
4
This country is not perfect by any means. But President Obama played a huge part of digging us out of the ditch that his predecessor left us in. I lost my job during the "Great Recession" and it took me almost 6 months to find a new one. Today I am employed and making more money than I did at my former job. None of these Republican whiners will convince me that the economy is still bad. These are the same people that stand in line at the Apple store for the latest i-phone, stand in line at malls waiting for stores to open on Black Friday and trample each other so they can get the latest greatest fad (hover boards?). Standing in lines to buy more stuff and yet still whining about the economy???????!!! I don't buy it for a second that these people are "suffering" in a bad economy. It's all partisan hackery.
2
Perhaps President Obama confuses the mean for the median. The mean personal income, as he implies, shows that we are doing just fine. And old example: If Bill Gates walks into a bar with a dozen men in it, the average patron of the bar, according to the mean, instantly becomes a billionaire. Not so, according to the median, an income level at which half the patrons make more and half less.
So which is the right measure to use? It depends on where on the income distribution scale you fall. Or on whether you live in Washington DC or out here in flyover country.
So which is the right measure to use? It depends on where on the income distribution scale you fall. Or on whether you live in Washington DC or out here in flyover country.
2
Until I was in first grade, my mom didn't work and stayed at home to raise my brother and me, while my dad, who had only a high school diploma, worked as a machinist (a union job). We had one decent car, a small home, and very little savings.
Today, over thirty years later, my wife and I both work, while raising our two boys, and we both have post-graduate degrees. You'd think we'd be much better off than when I was a kid, but we're not. We still have one decent car, a small home, and very little savings.
This is the sort of things that has many Americans feeling down about the state of country. That said, I can appreciate the considerable progress we've made in other areas since I was a kid.
Today, over thirty years later, my wife and I both work, while raising our two boys, and we both have post-graduate degrees. You'd think we'd be much better off than when I was a kid, but we're not. We still have one decent car, a small home, and very little savings.
This is the sort of things that has many Americans feeling down about the state of country. That said, I can appreciate the considerable progress we've made in other areas since I was a kid.
47
Yes, but I bet you have a lot more material goods: computers, better TVs, cable, cell phones. These are things our parents did not have the opportunity to buy, so the comparison may not be apt unless you have foregone all of these items.
I certainly take your point. We have lots of technological things that our parents didn't have, because they simply weren't around at the time, and they're nice. My family spends around $200 a month on cable, wi-fi, and cell phones and maybe, if averaged out, $100-150 a month on computers, TVs, and related expenses. I'm grateful to be able to afford these things. But are they really sufficient compensation for both my wife and I getting post-graduate degrees and working full-time? And if we chose to forgo these things, could we really live a middle-class life with two kids and just one of us working like in the old days? No. Something has changed for the worse since I was a kid. Many things have gotten better, but wages aren't what they used to be and cell phones and wi-fi don't quite make up for it.
My company has started a new fiscal year and although the books haven't been closed yet, it looks like -- for the second year in a row -- there will be no raise. They may give us a small bonus and call it "a one-time merit increase" -- again for the second year in a row --- but there will be no raise. The company is doing well. They are hiring everyone is busy. And, everyone's real wages continue to go down.
3
We all know income equality has grown wider and wider; The top 4% enriched during the 2008 meltdown (not a coincidence in my opinion), so what are the Republican candidates complaining about?
1
Greed Over People for a brighter tomorrow.
GOP 2016
GOP 2016
4
America's economy might be good for banksters, lobbyists, Drug Reps, Realtors and Reality TV Stars, but not so much out in the heartland. Main Street America is in deep trouble.
The Pew Trusts has published data that is quite disturbing.
• 55 percent cannot replace even one month of their income through liquid savings.
• Just under half of households perceive expenses greater than or equal to their income.
• And 8 percent report debt-payment that are 41 percent or more of gross monthly income.
"...many families, even those with relatively high incomes, are walking a nancial tightrope, and have little, if any, cushion to absorb an unexpected nancial emergency."
http://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/assets/2015/01/fsm_balance_sheet_report...
Does not sound like a vibrant economy to me. It sounds like a nation of working families hanging on by their fingernails.
The Pew Trusts has published data that is quite disturbing.
• 55 percent cannot replace even one month of their income through liquid savings.
• Just under half of households perceive expenses greater than or equal to their income.
• And 8 percent report debt-payment that are 41 percent or more of gross monthly income.
"...many families, even those with relatively high incomes, are walking a nancial tightrope, and have little, if any, cushion to absorb an unexpected nancial emergency."
http://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/assets/2015/01/fsm_balance_sheet_report...
Does not sound like a vibrant economy to me. It sounds like a nation of working families hanging on by their fingernails.
6
Dear Mr. Covert,
Most presidents, even with an "other party" controlled Congress, can expect some kind of compromise just to get something done.
This GOP/TP/KOCH AFFILIATE's amalgamation of gun toters and extremely wealthy contributors/controllers has presented Mr. Obama nothing of the sort. They "know what's best" (generally involving more money flowing into their coffers) and refuse to budge with things like fiscal cliffs, shutdowns and sequesters being their form of "governance". Even their speaker of the house bailed out due to frustration with this "stone wall" of Congressmen and Senators who's only answer to any political question is, seemingly, "my way or the highway" followed by "is that the way you wanted it said Mr. Koch/NRA/all other contributors"?
All numbers, inflation, unemployment, number of bathrooms in the Capitol are twisted, parsed and used by both sides for whatever purpose desired. Given that, those numbers seem to point to a "kind of recovery" of the economy but there's still a long road ahead. I don't expect THIS Congress to achieve anything much in Mr. Obama's last months other than vilifying him at every turn but, at least, it makes for interesting press.
Most presidents, even with an "other party" controlled Congress, can expect some kind of compromise just to get something done.
This GOP/TP/KOCH AFFILIATE's amalgamation of gun toters and extremely wealthy contributors/controllers has presented Mr. Obama nothing of the sort. They "know what's best" (generally involving more money flowing into their coffers) and refuse to budge with things like fiscal cliffs, shutdowns and sequesters being their form of "governance". Even their speaker of the house bailed out due to frustration with this "stone wall" of Congressmen and Senators who's only answer to any political question is, seemingly, "my way or the highway" followed by "is that the way you wanted it said Mr. Koch/NRA/all other contributors"?
All numbers, inflation, unemployment, number of bathrooms in the Capitol are twisted, parsed and used by both sides for whatever purpose desired. Given that, those numbers seem to point to a "kind of recovery" of the economy but there's still a long road ahead. I don't expect THIS Congress to achieve anything much in Mr. Obama's last months other than vilifying him at every turn but, at least, it makes for interesting press.
1
Aside from the direct quotes from Obama's final State of the Union address - these New York Times' commentaries could have been written well before the President and his writers put pen to paper.
I'm scratching my head in bewilderment as to what the man could have said any better or more honestly or with clearer vision. No, he did NOT use the occasion in the chamber to glorify his tenure - he did not attack the relentless Republican/conservative smear tactics used against him for seven years - nor did the speech warrant the predictable, journeyman response offered by Nikki Haley - who's only note of saving grace was her pithy observation on Donald Trump (which politically reactionary pundits have attacked her for anyway)
Washington is broken - everybody knows that. Verbal grenades have become the weapons of choice of both inter-party and intra-party rhetoric. That's 21st century politics Washington style and it's just not good enough. We need a spirit of bi-partisanship to permeate the halls - smarter, non-aligned people in power - and a consensus that whatever this Washington 'thing' is it's a cancer on the process of US Government.
And to borrow loosely from W. B. Yeats 'Surely there's a change a'coming as this rough beast slouches towards Bethlehem to be born' (The Second Coming)
Tom
I'm scratching my head in bewilderment as to what the man could have said any better or more honestly or with clearer vision. No, he did NOT use the occasion in the chamber to glorify his tenure - he did not attack the relentless Republican/conservative smear tactics used against him for seven years - nor did the speech warrant the predictable, journeyman response offered by Nikki Haley - who's only note of saving grace was her pithy observation on Donald Trump (which politically reactionary pundits have attacked her for anyway)
Washington is broken - everybody knows that. Verbal grenades have become the weapons of choice of both inter-party and intra-party rhetoric. That's 21st century politics Washington style and it's just not good enough. We need a spirit of bi-partisanship to permeate the halls - smarter, non-aligned people in power - and a consensus that whatever this Washington 'thing' is it's a cancer on the process of US Government.
And to borrow loosely from W. B. Yeats 'Surely there's a change a'coming as this rough beast slouches towards Bethlehem to be born' (The Second Coming)
Tom
1
5% unemployment doesn't sound as good when the majority of jobs added to get there are 9 dollar an hour jamba juice "I know you have today off but if you are not in here in forty five minutes you are fired" type jobs.
6
This economy is not strong.
Unless you're an oligarch outsourcing everything to Asia or India so that you don't have to pay a decent wage to Americans, that is. If you are an oligarch, you can even hire a bunch of non-Americans on H1B visas and force Americans to train them to takeover the American's job.
We are worked to death for pittances and told to be grateful. Obama is about to ride off into the sunset to a mansion in Hawaii while his daughters have their choice of Ivy League schools, where they will hob-knob with Bush, Kennedy and, in a few years, Clinton offspring.
It's wrong. It's broken.
Unless you're an oligarch outsourcing everything to Asia or India so that you don't have to pay a decent wage to Americans, that is. If you are an oligarch, you can even hire a bunch of non-Americans on H1B visas and force Americans to train them to takeover the American's job.
We are worked to death for pittances and told to be grateful. Obama is about to ride off into the sunset to a mansion in Hawaii while his daughters have their choice of Ivy League schools, where they will hob-knob with Bush, Kennedy and, in a few years, Clinton offspring.
It's wrong. It's broken.
6
The economy is great if.......
1) You work for the Government and have a guaranteed pension, cannot be fired no matter what you do;
2) If you work on Wall Street;
3) If you work for Congress (see #1 above);
4) If you are are a C-level anything;
5) If you were born independently wealthy;
6) If you don't have to work for a living.
For the rest of us, well, let's say we are struggling.
1) You work for the Government and have a guaranteed pension, cannot be fired no matter what you do;
2) If you work on Wall Street;
3) If you work for Congress (see #1 above);
4) If you are are a C-level anything;
5) If you were born independently wealthy;
6) If you don't have to work for a living.
For the rest of us, well, let's say we are struggling.
5
Sorry,
There are 500,000 less Federal government employees and 2M less local, state and federal employees. then in 2008.
There are 500,000 less Federal government employees and 2M less local, state and federal employees. then in 2008.
1
Rather than whine against "government" jobs with pensions, due process rules to protect employees from being fired at the whim of any boss and reasonable wages, why isn't there a real demand that business organizations stop giving senior executives unearned large compensation packages and golden parachutes (however much damage they do to the organization)?
Why aren't wage earning employees demanding the same union protections that created the middle class life style of our parents?
Why aren't wage earning employees demanding the same union protections that created the middle class life style of our parents?
3
This is pretty much my post for just about everything that ails the problems in America. Yep, Obama is telling it like it is, we are the strongest economy in the world. We are great in many, many way, in spite of what our elected officials have done to our government. The solution GET OUT AND VOTE. The voters in this country, as least most of them, have a handle on what is wrong in this country. The rest are hopeless. If you care about your country and you want some changes and fairness for us all, GET OUT AND VOTE.
4
The title of this article is correct; it didn't seem strong.
The president contradicted himself big time at the very beginning. He raved about the glorious economy and then spent the rest of the night telling us why it is not glorious for the average person. And failed to tell us this was connected with the data of the recent studying showing a much higher death rate among American white middle age males with lower educations; they are committing suicide and taking drugs and are depressed, etc. No politician talks about that study because the are scared silly. Those white men are supporting Trump/Cruz and that is another item to depress us all.
The speech was also freighting because Paul Ryan sat there, worse than Boehner, stone solid without moving or showing any enthusiasm whatsoever. That our politicians, our nation is frozen in trying to improve the human condition in America is also very scary.
Of course the reason Ryan sits their frozen is because of his parties ideology and we do not need to review that here, but it is an ideology of the wealth, the corporations, the plutocrats and the oligarchs. It is why the white males are in trouble, why the economy is not coming back for many, many persons, why the inequality in wealth grows larger and why the great absurdity of climate change denial continues in Ryan's party.
Even the Republican response to Obama by the Governor of SC indicated the Republicans were to blame for the decline of America and attached Trump.
The president contradicted himself big time at the very beginning. He raved about the glorious economy and then spent the rest of the night telling us why it is not glorious for the average person. And failed to tell us this was connected with the data of the recent studying showing a much higher death rate among American white middle age males with lower educations; they are committing suicide and taking drugs and are depressed, etc. No politician talks about that study because the are scared silly. Those white men are supporting Trump/Cruz and that is another item to depress us all.
The speech was also freighting because Paul Ryan sat there, worse than Boehner, stone solid without moving or showing any enthusiasm whatsoever. That our politicians, our nation is frozen in trying to improve the human condition in America is also very scary.
Of course the reason Ryan sits their frozen is because of his parties ideology and we do not need to review that here, but it is an ideology of the wealth, the corporations, the plutocrats and the oligarchs. It is why the white males are in trouble, why the economy is not coming back for many, many persons, why the inequality in wealth grows larger and why the great absurdity of climate change denial continues in Ryan's party.
Even the Republican response to Obama by the Governor of SC indicated the Republicans were to blame for the decline of America and attached Trump.
1
I have some trouble believing people who lost their jobs, perhaps had to move, and perhaps had to cut back on their children's education, will ever feel whole again. It was an injury inflicted on many more people than those who catastrophically became unemployed.
The policies that brought that about, the Great Recession, followed almost to the exact minute eight years of Republican ideas at work. During that time, incomes for the 1% continued to climb.
The disconnection is that the current Republican position is to go back to the work done by the Republican party in that lost decade. But their funders are still buying the party's intellectual base.
The policies that brought that about, the Great Recession, followed almost to the exact minute eight years of Republican ideas at work. During that time, incomes for the 1% continued to climb.
The disconnection is that the current Republican position is to go back to the work done by the Republican party in that lost decade. But their funders are still buying the party's intellectual base.
3
Unfortunately, most people in America look at Government, and hear the State of the Union Address, from two different ideological perspectives. Perhaps that's through two different prisms, and both need to be cleaned, with just a little bit of self-education and actually understanding what is going on.
We need to be able to weed-out the differences between the politicians who clearly do not understand much of anything, the ones (like the 2012 Pizza King) who seemed to spend more time on his book tour, the narcissistic ones who are more intent on enhancing their reputation and, of course, the serious candidates.
When you consider the State of the Union when Barack Obama took office, he certainly has turned things around for the better. Also, that was with the GOP fighting him every step of the way. And throughout the first seven years off President Obama's Administration, the Republican Party--at both the Federal and State levels--have seemed more intent on advancing their political ideology, than ever doing what was best for their own constituents--and the Country.
http://thetruthoncommonsense.com
We need to be able to weed-out the differences between the politicians who clearly do not understand much of anything, the ones (like the 2012 Pizza King) who seemed to spend more time on his book tour, the narcissistic ones who are more intent on enhancing their reputation and, of course, the serious candidates.
When you consider the State of the Union when Barack Obama took office, he certainly has turned things around for the better. Also, that was with the GOP fighting him every step of the way. And throughout the first seven years off President Obama's Administration, the Republican Party--at both the Federal and State levels--have seemed more intent on advancing their political ideology, than ever doing what was best for their own constituents--and the Country.
http://thetruthoncommonsense.com
2
What a disingenuous assessment.
For the vast majority of Americans, job security is at an all time low, quality of jobs available (hours worked, career advancement in that job, etc) is very low, prospects from improvement are not existent.
For the vast majority of Americans, credit (to buy a house, car, etc) has become incredibly tight or unavailable.
The two factors above has put most families in a rut they can't get out of.
To suggest to these Americans that the economy is good and strong is an insult.
For the vast majority of Americans, job security is at an all time low, quality of jobs available (hours worked, career advancement in that job, etc) is very low, prospects from improvement are not existent.
For the vast majority of Americans, credit (to buy a house, car, etc) has become incredibly tight or unavailable.
The two factors above has put most families in a rut they can't get out of.
To suggest to these Americans that the economy is good and strong is an insult.
4
The turnaround is getting decent, but has NOT been 'remarkable'. In fact it has been more stubbornly restrained than most any recovery from recession in the last century or more. This is not to blame the President and his administration, but it is to say that people are not crazy for not feeling bubbly. Even the President essential admitted that where we are now is not good enough yet. Labor force participation rates of around 61 percent have rebounded a bit from recession lows of around 59, but still have not made it back to pre-recession levels of around 67 - 68; hence there is a LOT of untapped labor capacity out there (and more part-time and contract work in the employed ranks than has been the case historically); hence wages and salaries are stagnant. So it really is not a delusion of their perception that causes the mood of the people on the state of the economy is still subdued. Being grateful for having come this far - and for the partial role of a president in doing his role - does not mean that we ignore the fact that we have NOT bounced back all the way! Chirpiness does not help in getting the real work of continued recovery done. Rather it leads to complaceny that we can't afford.
The state if the union is the weakest its been in a generation. Even weaker than when the financial system was brought to its knees. Obama, the NYT, and the left generally are in denial of this because it hurts the political narrative in a crucial election year. Look at what markets are telling us about the world: US stock market tanking, Oil below $30, high yield spreads blown out, EM equities at 5 year lows, China bubbles collapsing. Meanwhile, socially and politically the fractures are dramatic in the US. It means weathering the material economic slowdown from abroad is going to be that much tougher. Our shared values are no longer strong - in fact, shared values among Americans don't even exist anymore. Cherry on top is that we are headed for a recession in the US - just look at the ISM Manufacturing data and the historical correlation with nominal GDP growth...ISM has made a sharp turn lower and given that GDP is a lagging # we simply are on delay in terms of officially receiving this news. Obama has teed up a nightmare for his successor. Politically, he might want to dial back the rhetoric as the smart chess move would be to cede a Republican with what is a structurally broken foundation.
1
"During the debates, nearly every Republican candidate has brandished the fact that wages have been stagnant for decades. "
The Republican party is blaming the Democrats for the policies the Republicans have pursued!
Here's what they did: Shift taxes away from the wealthy, stop investing in the US, support every effort to empower corporations to outsource work to other countries, destroy unions and any other organization that supports the average person, stack the Supreme Court with justices dedicated to the interests of the wealthy and powerful, de-regulate every industry and especially the financial sector to the advantage of the powerful, etc.
Here's what they say: if only the Democrats didn't exist, every American who worked would get rich. The market would be "free" and this would lead to the end of all problems.
How can nearly half of the American people accept this magical thinking, where hard facts can't even be heard over wishful thinking? How much longer will they continue to watch their quality of life decline and accept an explanation that makes no sense?
As the Republicans see it, heads they win and tails their opponents lose.
The Republican party is blaming the Democrats for the policies the Republicans have pursued!
Here's what they did: Shift taxes away from the wealthy, stop investing in the US, support every effort to empower corporations to outsource work to other countries, destroy unions and any other organization that supports the average person, stack the Supreme Court with justices dedicated to the interests of the wealthy and powerful, de-regulate every industry and especially the financial sector to the advantage of the powerful, etc.
Here's what they say: if only the Democrats didn't exist, every American who worked would get rich. The market would be "free" and this would lead to the end of all problems.
How can nearly half of the American people accept this magical thinking, where hard facts can't even be heard over wishful thinking? How much longer will they continue to watch their quality of life decline and accept an explanation that makes no sense?
As the Republicans see it, heads they win and tails their opponents lose.
5
I have often wondered why Obama does not have many of the same views as Bernie Sanders. Sanders openly states that big corporations will not like him.
Obama did not grow up rich by any means. Yet outside of ACA Obama seems more like a Republican with respect to the economy. Sure he laments the 1% but what has he really done about it? Is it because over time he became an elitist and part of the 1% vacationing in Martha's Vineyard? Money definitely changes people. Or is it that big government always finds it easier and cleaner to deal with big business because both represent a centralization of capital and power. A Prez can't meet with 300 million people but they certainly can meet with the CEO of General Electric.
Inherent in this paradox is why people feel uneasy. The economy has recovered OK but was that just a bounce off the bottom and massive buying of securities by the Federal Reserve rather than something Obama really did? And people know the labor force participating rate is down, which is a very critical factor in economic growth for the middle class, while the 1% just work at deploying capital and making even more money. Meanwhile China has a middle class of 300 million people and work at stealing our government and commercial secrets. That is where many of our middle class jobs went.
Layer on the fact that foreign policy is an absolute disaster and people are reserving judgement or are just lukewarm in their praise.
Obama did not grow up rich by any means. Yet outside of ACA Obama seems more like a Republican with respect to the economy. Sure he laments the 1% but what has he really done about it? Is it because over time he became an elitist and part of the 1% vacationing in Martha's Vineyard? Money definitely changes people. Or is it that big government always finds it easier and cleaner to deal with big business because both represent a centralization of capital and power. A Prez can't meet with 300 million people but they certainly can meet with the CEO of General Electric.
Inherent in this paradox is why people feel uneasy. The economy has recovered OK but was that just a bounce off the bottom and massive buying of securities by the Federal Reserve rather than something Obama really did? And people know the labor force participating rate is down, which is a very critical factor in economic growth for the middle class, while the 1% just work at deploying capital and making even more money. Meanwhile China has a middle class of 300 million people and work at stealing our government and commercial secrets. That is where many of our middle class jobs went.
Layer on the fact that foreign policy is an absolute disaster and people are reserving judgement or are just lukewarm in their praise.
2
The State of the Union does not feel strong because no one believes the stats coming out of the government. 5% unemployment? No one believes that with historically high numbers of working age people simply dropping out of the workforce. Moreover, many of the new jobs are "McJobs," in the service industry and not the kind of well-paying jobs people need to remain in the middle class.
We feel physically insecure as well with terrorism again coming to our shores under this president. Obama wants to diminish these valid fears by saying there is no "existential threat. " Honestly, he sounds like a college sophomore when he says that! When people are killed at a Christmas party by terrorists, that makes everyone FEEL vulnerable. It can happen anywhere and any time because this president has not kept us safe.
Nature abhors a vacuum, and that applies to leadership as well. How else can one explain the rise of bullies like Putin or Trump? Trump is a reaction to the feckless leadership we have seen for the past 7 years. The pendulum always swings too far, unfortunately.
We feel physically insecure as well with terrorism again coming to our shores under this president. Obama wants to diminish these valid fears by saying there is no "existential threat. " Honestly, he sounds like a college sophomore when he says that! When people are killed at a Christmas party by terrorists, that makes everyone FEEL vulnerable. It can happen anywhere and any time because this president has not kept us safe.
Nature abhors a vacuum, and that applies to leadership as well. How else can one explain the rise of bullies like Putin or Trump? Trump is a reaction to the feckless leadership we have seen for the past 7 years. The pendulum always swings too far, unfortunately.
20
"...this president has not kept us safe." I am so sick of hearing such meaningless, broad strokes like this. What do you mean, exactly? That he has not, personally, hunted down every fundamentalist nut job in the ME and eradicated them? There are motivated, dangerous people everywhere. Just living is not 'safe.' The US has a long history of assassinations and violence from domestic sources, outside nationalists trying to get attention, and lots of home-grown violence (think Timothy McVeigh), with violence from Islamist extremists ranking very low. To 'defeat' radical Islam, to which I'm assuming you are referring...will take a strategic, comprehensive plan that includes assistance and leadership from all Western allies, as well as from the leadership in Muslim countries. It is complex, challenging issue that will not be 'solved' by any one US president. A person's chance of dying in an act of terrorism, anywhere in the world is 1 in 9.3 MILLION. You are 11x more likely to die from slipping in the shower, 16 x more likely to die from a lightening strike and 500 x more likely to die in a car accident. Get a grip and don't buy into this incessant mantra of fear that many politicians peddle.
Mr. Covert, like most defenders of the economy's stability, uses arithmetical equations to make his points. People aren't numbers. Here is an illustration: 2005, there are 4 houses on a street and each has a household income of $250,000.00. Obviously, the average income is $250,000 per family. Today, on that same 4 house street, 3 families are unemployed and the fourth makes $1 million a year. The government says everything is fine, just stagnated, because their equations say the average household income on that street is still $250,000 a year.
If you really want to find out what shape the economy is in, it is actually the people who know not the government. This is why Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are leading the race to the next leader. They both see the same problems and though they take different tactics to get to a better place, they are both tapped in to people, not equations.
If you really want to find out what shape the economy is in, it is actually the people who know not the government. This is why Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are leading the race to the next leader. They both see the same problems and though they take different tactics to get to a better place, they are both tapped in to people, not equations.
28
Well of course the campaign trail is full of doom and gloom, because if everything was rosy there would be no reason to elect a different direction. The economy is stable, but Obama was hamstrung by Congress to do anything substantial to improve incomes, raise minimum wages, or create living wage jobs because success in that area would hurt the "other side". Right wing pundits often claim the Democrats want to keep people poor so they will vote for Democrats to provide them with food stamps or other benefits, yet the actions of Congress over the last 8 years did everything they could to prevent meaningful job creation, wage improvements, income equality in order to make the man in charge look as bad as possible. Tax cuts alone (the GOP's only seeming priority besides ending the ACA )have NOT created anything but more wealth than can ever be spent at the tippy top of the income scale. None of the Republican candidates have any real plan that will change the fortunes of working people. Lot of talk but short on substance.
34
Mary--Truer words have seldom been written.
2
Yes, the pain of the recession persists, and defies presidential power, such as it is. The POTUS seems powerful when s/he is of the same party that controls Congress. The POTUS seems even more powerful when they are all of the GOP, because then they are in sync with the military-industrial people and with the Chambers of Congress. All else is imagination: "there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so..."
3
Republicans pointing out that wages have been stagnant for decades is correct. They should know; it started with Reagan's initiatives and has been exacerbated especially recently during the W. administration.
"On the President's watch"....yeas, he watched as all his efforts to change things were stymied....no, ignored.....no, lambasted....by the Republicans now crying crocodile tears about wage stagnation.
It make me sick.
"On the President's watch"....yeas, he watched as all his efforts to change things were stymied....no, ignored.....no, lambasted....by the Republicans now crying crocodile tears about wage stagnation.
It make me sick.
24
You nailed it. Why don't the Democrats preach this over and over.
2
2-2.5% GNP Growth used to be called a recession, and when you net out taxes and transfers that income gap hasn't really changed much.
The reason "the economy doesn't feel strong" to Americans is because of what they see and experience.
Manipulation and distortion of job numbers and unemployment rates is political spin not reality.
Manipulation and distortion of job numbers and unemployment rates is political spin not reality.
2
The filthy rich are doing even better than ever, and hoping to soon stop paying any taxes.
1
Yes, speak to a 50 or 60 something year old who lost their job in the recession and has never recovered. Talk to a young mother or father who struggles to put food on the table for their kids because their skimpy tiny raise, if any at all, doesn't begin to meet their cost of living increases. No one to represent them - now it's right to work, which means, yes, right to work three jobs at the same time to keep up. Then have the wealthy scream they're paying too much in taxes?
Difficult to see this and difficult for many to live it.
Difficult to see this and difficult for many to live it.
86
It doesn't feel like it because our country is being hijacked by special interest groups. The silent majority has very little impact while special interest groups like AiPAC or Wall Street lobby can destroy our country.
8
America is in decline. Our education system is a sham at all levels and no one can afford it anyway. I have not had a raise in years and will work into my 70's even though I have saved in my "401K" since I was in my early 20's. I'll be funding my neighbors' pensions with my tax dollars (they retire in their mid 50's while our local government struggles to keep the schools open). Lucky for me I have good healthcare (a shining light in a dark world). I am just glad I don't have kids as they will never know the great America I once knew.
7
All due respect, too bad you do not have kids. Then you would not say our education system is a sham. Yes it needs help, but public schools successfully educate 90% of us. Having children exposes one to the truth of youth-- there is much to feel great about in those with whom our future will lie.
1
Maybe the American Dream isn't quite broken enough - because the people on the bottom are still willing to vote for someone who will reduce taxes on the rich and take away their benefits - "because I wouldn't want to have to pay more." As long as they can picture themselves becoming millionaires, the Republicans have them. I think you have to be willing to accept the brokenness to be a Democrat - to say it isn't fair, it isn't right, we could be better. And at the moment it is just too depressing to face the truth. How else could people who live in Michigan vote for Snyder and hate Obama?
20
It is easy to make statements of the great improvement in the economy, but the majority of the American population has not felt it.
4
Dr.Sam: that's because the improvements accrue primarily to the 1%. And if one of the GOP Insane Clown Posse is elected, it will only get worse
2
But that's not what the President or the article said.
I'm replying to you and your assertion that the majority of the American population have not felt the recovery.
You hit the nail on the head by talking about the need for a different "selling point." Yes, you have admitted you see this as a marketing question. How sad. Americans are marketed to, not only to get them to eat some sugary snack detrimental to their health, but also to get them to think the way the lobbyists want them to think about themselves and their well-being -- need to grow bigger, but look thinner, need to have more material goods, but also to save for retirement. Clearly Americans' education has not prepared them for dealing with all this. Why are those Americans who feel discontent about their lives feeling this way? Some, of course, because they are not well off. But most are in pretty good shape. (And we must ask, compared to what? -- some fantasy world where everyone is as rich as Trump, or in our world where most everyone in the US has shelter, food, clean air, and even some leisure to enjoy their friends and family). It is only by drinking the Kool Aid doled out by those controlling the national discourse through their think-tanks and lobbying firms (are there any differences between these?) that people think that its our government and not the wealthy bankers, Wall Street moguls, CEOs of BigPharma, Insurance Companies, etc. who are rigging the game and exploiting them. Sure, people at the bottom are getting worked over by those at the top. Why not vote their puppets out of office and put in YOUR representatives? Your vote does count!!
5
How you view the state of the union depends largely upon where you are sitting.
Can you make rent? If you lose your job, can you get another - one that won't require you sell your house? Will you be able to afford insurance? Did you already spend your safety net on college (FAFSA formula: 2.5X everything you own... send it now) so you have no buffer when you are laid off for being too old and too expensive?
Don't get me wrong. I believe that the policies that the President has been able to get passed have helped - and we are insecure, rather than cold and starving, another possible outcome from global economic meltdown. GOP policies make the latter more likely, not less, since the GOP blames everything on regulation rather than globalization and automation. And the GOP has no plan and no intention to work on the systemic problems of employment, underemployment and wages..
From where I sit, the state of the union is that the patient recovered, miraculously, but is still pretty weak form the ordeal, and needs careful tending for a few more years to come.
Can you make rent? If you lose your job, can you get another - one that won't require you sell your house? Will you be able to afford insurance? Did you already spend your safety net on college (FAFSA formula: 2.5X everything you own... send it now) so you have no buffer when you are laid off for being too old and too expensive?
Don't get me wrong. I believe that the policies that the President has been able to get passed have helped - and we are insecure, rather than cold and starving, another possible outcome from global economic meltdown. GOP policies make the latter more likely, not less, since the GOP blames everything on regulation rather than globalization and automation. And the GOP has no plan and no intention to work on the systemic problems of employment, underemployment and wages..
From where I sit, the state of the union is that the patient recovered, miraculously, but is still pretty weak form the ordeal, and needs careful tending for a few more years to come.
6
You are right, but Hill and Bern turning (running?) away from Obama's success does not help the Dems win. It fuels the furnace of the independent voter and pushes them towards a GOP candidate. With assistance from the FOX news propaganda machine they hear nothing positive about the country and so are going to vote for a change. Sad.
A class act.
From a self made man.
Who said no to perpetual war.
From a self made man.
Who said no to perpetual war.
14
Why so much emphasis on forcing employers to pay more for employees, which will cause jobs to go away? Latent demand for American jobs INCREASED to 17.5 million in December! Why did the American Job Shortage Number, or AJSN, do that, when the other numbers looked so good? See why last week’s employment report was overrated at http://worksnewage.blogspot.com/2016/01/a-fine-employment-numbers-month-....
When in doubt always go with your feelings, not the political spin. As always, the reality check is are you better off today then you were seven years ago? Do you feel financially secure, healthier, happier? Your call.
1
My house and car are paid for, I have no long-term unsecured debt, I continue to accrue savings in retirement accounts, my health is good, I have a job where I am appreciated, I can indulge in a little discretionary spending on hobbies, and I have a wonderful partner in my wife who shares all with me. For all these we are truly grateful. Considering where we were headed in 2008, that's probably the easiest question I've ever had to answer!
59
Of course we all do. the Bush presidency ended with the greatest financial disaster since the Depression. This recovery is a whole lot better than that.
7
My biggest complaint of President Obama has been his failure to effectively use his strongest 'weapon' - the bully pulpit. When we think of greatness in Presidents, it is often the words that they shared with us more so than anything else about them (I am presently suffering intracostal spasms from reading all the diatribes about BC's 'love' life - name me a past President, other than Carter, who kept it at home. Okay, W. But who would have him?) Perhaps it is his professorial tone, quiet and still, a technique that either forces students to listen or nod off but that puts the rest of us to channel surfing. Perhaps it is colloqialisms shuffled in here and there that don't ring true to his nature, perhaps it is the lassitude in his posture, stiff yet loose. He often says, and I am sure means, the 'right' things but they aren't truly heard by the people. He was better on the campaign trail when he was tired and making math errors (how many states?) because there was some actual passion there. Maybe that's it - too much gravitas. I can see it written on his face that he is just fed up - and has been - with the treatment he has received. How can you inspire people to follow you when you have lost hope that anything but fiat will succeed? We will probably have to suffer under the jackboot of a Cruz before we the people actually take some responsibility for the mess we have allow to accumulate on this blessed land. Sad to think. Frightening, even.
2
While I would not have expected Mr. Obama to present a bleak picture, his lofty view of things is wholly unrealistic for many, if not most of us. He is still trying to sell us on hope and change. Unfortunately, it did not work, and it is going to take a lot more work to get us back to where we need to be. It will not be easy to do that without a strong political will that both major parties can and will support and work towards accomplishing. We work best when we work together. That is the message we need to hear and embrace.
Fear mongering presidential candidates are preying on the naivete of the average voter. Surely the economy has come a long way despite the global slow down. I fear that tgere will continue to be a lot of misinformation by most candidates for simply political gain. Sadly, that's what politics is all about these days
So many economic indicators are misleading and fail to reflect the pain that many working people and the poor are enduring every day. The unemployment rate is a joke. You rarely - if at all - hear about the quality of jobs being created - just the quantity. A full-time minimum wage job with little or no benefits counts the same in the unemployment rate as a full-time engineering job. And don't forget that people who have given up looking for work aren't counted at all.
The chickens are coming home to roost and are pecking at those who have preached the virtues of globalization, deregulation of business, and automation over the past several decades. Now that the American middle class has been shot to pieces, who is left to spend money? Who off-sets the decline in that spending power? When you replace a human being with a computerized system, does the computerized system go online or to the mall to buy goods? Do the jobs created to build the computerized system off-set the jobs lost? And when you send an American middle class job overseas, does the worker in Asia spend as much as the worker in America?
The race to the bottom is underway.
The chickens are coming home to roost and are pecking at those who have preached the virtues of globalization, deregulation of business, and automation over the past several decades. Now that the American middle class has been shot to pieces, who is left to spend money? Who off-sets the decline in that spending power? When you replace a human being with a computerized system, does the computerized system go online or to the mall to buy goods? Do the jobs created to build the computerized system off-set the jobs lost? And when you send an American middle class job overseas, does the worker in Asia spend as much as the worker in America?
The race to the bottom is underway.
2
The United States has experienced 47 recessions in its history. This was the longest its ever seen so Americans are correct to be hesitant about claims by Obama and democrats that things are wonderful again. One wonders why it took this administration so long to at least partially right the ship.
Because there was so much Republican water to bail from the hold, skipper!
The whole world experienced the Great Recession, and our recovery leads the world. Other countries did too little, too late, or made the problem worse. Now those poor countries are a drag on the whole world. We are surrounded by countries that have decreased buying power,causing us all to lose trade that buoys our economies.
Pres. Obama took positive steps, including rescuing General Motors from going out of business. He wasn't aided by the GOP in this, or I believe our recovery would have been stronger.
A government-controlled National Bank could have lent directly to businesses, instead of the Fed lending to bankers who sat on the funds, afraid to lend them.
Pres. Obama took positive steps, including rescuing General Motors from going out of business. He wasn't aided by the GOP in this, or I believe our recovery would have been stronger.
A government-controlled National Bank could have lent directly to businesses, instead of the Fed lending to bankers who sat on the funds, afraid to lend them.
BFL: One wonders why it took this administration so long to at least partially right the ship.???? You can't be serious. The 1% and their GOP minions have publicly made it their business to stop everything Obama tried to do to help people and create jobs. Any improvement in the economy has been despite their efforts. Wake up America, the Insane Clown Posse is coming for you.
1
When what we actually spend on housing, health insurance and health care (b/c our health insurance pays for almost nothing), every worker is earning less today than just a few years ago. Add to that the people who have had to take pay cuts to have a job at all, and the financial insecurity is palpable. None of this is President Obama's fault, and without him, it would be a whole lot worse.
5
Under the ACA, your health insurance company must spend 80% of your premium on actual health care. So what you pay for health insurance is being spent on health care - just not health care for you and your family.
1
There is no mystery here. Conservative media, which virtually controls cable television and AM/FM radio, has peddled this fiction for the benefit of Republicans for the last 8 years. According to this vision, Obama cannot do anything positive whatsoever. It is the cultural counterpart to the Republican stonewalling of Obama in the Congress.
Obama may be man enough to admit his failure to bring the parties together but let's face it, we have failed him and have failed the country by playing into the hands of the right-wing media and it's partisan warfare.
Obama may be man enough to admit his failure to bring the parties together but let's face it, we have failed him and have failed the country by playing into the hands of the right-wing media and it's partisan warfare.
10
Controls, eh? On my cable TV, there is CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, and Fox. That's six liberal channels for one semi-conservative one. But Fox gets all the viewers, even though they could watch some other channel.
The same thing with radio. The liberal talk shows? Nobody tuned in, they got no advertisers, they couldn't survive.
The same thing with radio. The liberal talk shows? Nobody tuned in, they got no advertisers, they couldn't survive.
1
You're not serious. Conservatives run the media??? When was the last time you turned on your tv? The majority of those in the media and who own it are liberal democrats. There is not one middle of the road talking head on tv right now. Ever listen to NPR????? Liberal as they come. And any other network save Fox is slanted strictly to the left.
The unspoken thing about the economy is this: many, many good middle-class jobs-from NASA engineers to teachers to IRS accountants, from Senate aides to road pavers, from park rangers to tour guides to nurses in clinics that accept Medicaid, from prison guards to VA admissions clerks--have been government jobs or have relied on government spending. They have given stability, and, as in the case of the road pavers, offered contracts to the companies they work for to repair our infrastructure. We hate our tax code, but how many financial planners and accountants would be out of work without it? We shouldn't be wasting money anymore than necessary, and we shouldn't countenance fraud (government jobs are necessary to root it out), but this is (pun sort of intended) the elephant in the room. The Republicans keep massaging resentment and jealousy, as if all these folks with their master's degrees and their Ranger hats are somehow living off the small business owner, but the truth is, they're the ones buying the services and products, and that stability, that knowing that people have a little extra cash now and then, is what gives entrepreneurs the courage to take their leaps of faith.
5
Presidents take the credit or the blame, that much is certain. Congressional action or inaction with Supreme Court blessing are the drivers of our system. Make no mistake,the driver of our ship have been drunk. Some of the congressmen we elect and re elect should make us all ashamed. They do not represent us or anyone based in reality.
3
The problem is the US Federal Reserve which rushes to bailout Wall Street at the slightest squall in the Financial Markets. Artificially low interest rates continue to blow serial asset bubbles which leave behind victims each time a bubble bursts. There was no introspection in the Fed's interest rate policy role behind the dotcom and the housing bubbles. Wall Street has cheered Fed on as near zero interest rates enter the 8th year, the real damage will be known only when the latest bubbles burst.
1
I find the Republicans difficult to understand. They spent more than eight years campaigning against Obama, and they are now campaigning against President Obama even though he's not running for office. Why don't they say "we did it!” And if we can elect a Republican Senate, House of Representatives, and President we will continue to do it. We will repeal the Affordable Care Act. We will withdraw from the nuclear agreement. We will withdraw from the climate change act. We will repeal any regulation that business finds onerous. We will seriously revise Social Security. We will convert all school systems to vouchers. We will turn the clock back eight decades. We will be free!
16
My thoughts on this is that I have to commend a political entity that has had unbelievable success while actually doing absolutely nothing for the country, and that is, of course, the Republican party. Somehow the Republicans have figured out a way to get elected and do nothing for anyone except large corporations and the 1% of rich people. Yet, Americans by the millions run to the polls and vote Republican.
Sure, it's cognative dissonance, and bragging rights, "Yea, I'm so rich, it's in my best interests to vote Republican." And, of course, guns, religion, abortion, racist attitudes, are all claimed by the Republican party as the American patriotic palette.
I voted for him twice, but really, Obama has failed to make inroads in the attitudes of the American publics perception of Republican strengths. They are stronger now then when he took office and that certainly adds to the perception in the country that while we have made some progress he has failed to lift the Democrats to a place where they can achieve any progressive success. And, the next President, hopefully a Democrat, will be starting in a hole dug partially by President Obama.
Sure, it's cognative dissonance, and bragging rights, "Yea, I'm so rich, it's in my best interests to vote Republican." And, of course, guns, religion, abortion, racist attitudes, are all claimed by the Republican party as the American patriotic palette.
I voted for him twice, but really, Obama has failed to make inroads in the attitudes of the American publics perception of Republican strengths. They are stronger now then when he took office and that certainly adds to the perception in the country that while we have made some progress he has failed to lift the Democrats to a place where they can achieve any progressive success. And, the next President, hopefully a Democrat, will be starting in a hole dug partially by President Obama.
3
VOTERS have failed to lift...they have only themselves to blame.
1
I believe it is because Obama is not the team player we desperately needed and need. He is a loner. Effective as you point out, but not able and willing to do the hard work to win people over. (as for instance Bill Clinton was)
Let's face a fact. Before President Obama began to speak, Republicans were in their bunker plotting to debunk the President on every point. Day is night and vice versa. Was there something, anything, where compromise could be found, asked the President. Absolutely not, replied the Republicans. Case closed.
And so it goes. Whether these obstinate Republicans are getting marching orders from Right Wing radio shock jocks, their constituents becoming so paranoid they are ready to take arms up against their own government, or they're just plain crazy to begin with, an awful lot of misinformed folks out there are living in fear not only of attacks by foreign terrorists but an overthrow of their own government by, get this, their president.
Can anyone propose to reason with a mindset like that? Seems futile. Unless some epiphany takes hold of their senses, no amount of dialogue is going to convince them otherwise. President Obama has been constantly ravaged by FOX "News" and Right Wing radio. They tell us daily he cannot be trusted. Every thing he says means something else. He lies. He is the anti-Christ. Really, why bother trying to communicate with such evil. Until their Hate is subject to eradication by the people who soak up this hogwash and believe it, then all is lost. The answer: Republicans will only change if they are beaten forcefully at the polls nothing will sink in.
DD
Manhattan
DD
Manhattan
And so it goes. Whether these obstinate Republicans are getting marching orders from Right Wing radio shock jocks, their constituents becoming so paranoid they are ready to take arms up against their own government, or they're just plain crazy to begin with, an awful lot of misinformed folks out there are living in fear not only of attacks by foreign terrorists but an overthrow of their own government by, get this, their president.
Can anyone propose to reason with a mindset like that? Seems futile. Unless some epiphany takes hold of their senses, no amount of dialogue is going to convince them otherwise. President Obama has been constantly ravaged by FOX "News" and Right Wing radio. They tell us daily he cannot be trusted. Every thing he says means something else. He lies. He is the anti-Christ. Really, why bother trying to communicate with such evil. Until their Hate is subject to eradication by the people who soak up this hogwash and believe it, then all is lost. The answer: Republicans will only change if they are beaten forcefully at the polls nothing will sink in.
DD
Manhattan
DD
Manhattan
17
The Republican were debunking the speech before it was given. They always have their pat "answers" and responses, if no actual plans or programs for the general welfare of OUR nation. Lots of heady plans for the wealthy, though!
1
As Warren Buffet cracked when identifying the class warfare: "My class won." The rich have got us just where they want us. That's the way it goes here in America. But for one stretch from 1945-1972, it has always been that way. We shoulder on because the "choice" is so darn ugly. Seems like we will follow the Roman Empire in terms of endings. History may not repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme.
40
The State of the Union from where I sit is anything but strong. I give the President great credit for what he has been able to accomplish given what he inherited from his predecessor. And, let's face it, many have done very well in the last 7 years. But for the rest of us, it hasn't been such a rosy picture.
And where is the federal government when we really need it now?
In the West we have armed occupiers of a federal building, free to move around, free to drive into town, free to receive visitors with food and other supplies, free to meet with the press, free to tear down fences on federal property, free to shut down schools.
For a group that hates Obama and complains about the heavy hand of the government, there doesn't seem to be a government anywhere in sight.
And where is the federal government when we really need it now?
In the West we have armed occupiers of a federal building, free to move around, free to drive into town, free to receive visitors with food and other supplies, free to meet with the press, free to tear down fences on federal property, free to shut down schools.
For a group that hates Obama and complains about the heavy hand of the government, there doesn't seem to be a government anywhere in sight.
59
But isn't government the problem? Until you need it, that is.
The Bundy moochers should have been thrown off that land before they got a foothold. Now these yahoos are giving press conferences; one even sat in his truck and gave a hilarious maudlin good-bye message to his wife. He apparently thought he was about to die. Given the stupidity of most of the occupiers' comments, it is amazing that the United States government allows this. The land in dispute is public, over grazed and abused. They want to continue to run cattle on a barren windswept plain. The suffering wildlife will die off and these ignorant intruders will continue to breed.
The partial disconnect between the real condition of the country and popular perception arises from the inherently adversarial nature of our version of democratic politics; from the restless nature of our expectations; and from the impact of social media. No challenger ever won election by celebrating the incumbent party's achievements. Paul Ryan's frozen face during the speech reflected a determination to reject even presidential actions he approved, lest he yield some political advantage to the Democrats.
The widespread discontent over economic inequality reflects real problems. At the same time, Americans have always harbored unrealistic expectations. Our capitalist faith teaches us to anticipate rapid and sustained improvement in our material lives, on a scale that no real economy could deliver. Even with current problems, most Americans lead safer, healthier, and more comfortable lives than the previous generation. But these real improvements have fallen far short of our restless demand for even more.
The development of social media has enabled us to share our dissatisfaction instantly, even with strangers, which confirms the validity of our feelings. The ability to expose discontents and problems to millions of people so quickly helps mobilize campaigns to address real issues. But it also tends to emphasize our society's shortcomings at the expense of its achievements.
We face real problems, but those failures tell only part of our story as a people.
The widespread discontent over economic inequality reflects real problems. At the same time, Americans have always harbored unrealistic expectations. Our capitalist faith teaches us to anticipate rapid and sustained improvement in our material lives, on a scale that no real economy could deliver. Even with current problems, most Americans lead safer, healthier, and more comfortable lives than the previous generation. But these real improvements have fallen far short of our restless demand for even more.
The development of social media has enabled us to share our dissatisfaction instantly, even with strangers, which confirms the validity of our feelings. The ability to expose discontents and problems to millions of people so quickly helps mobilize campaigns to address real issues. But it also tends to emphasize our society's shortcomings at the expense of its achievements.
We face real problems, but those failures tell only part of our story as a people.
"On the other hand, the richest 1 percent captured 58 percent of all income growth in the first five years of the recovery. Income inequality has in fact gotten worse after the Great Recession and under President Obama’s watch."
Due in part to the GOP's demand that the Bush tax cuts be extended for millionaires and billionaires as extortion so Obama could extend unemployment insurance for the desperate.
The bitter irony: a millionaire/billionaire would receive tens of thousands of dollars in gratuitous money, while the unemployed had to pay a 10% tax on their meager benefits.
Due in part to the GOP's demand that the Bush tax cuts be extended for millionaires and billionaires as extortion so Obama could extend unemployment insurance for the desperate.
The bitter irony: a millionaire/billionaire would receive tens of thousands of dollars in gratuitous money, while the unemployed had to pay a 10% tax on their meager benefits.
The new normal is profoundly different from post World War II American economy, and our president's thesis was clearly presented for addressing those differences; yet the way forward he describes is complex, and his explanation, linked eloquently to his narrative, offers no easy immediate fixes. As a young man about the graduate high school in 1963, many in my class were about to take jobs in the Ford assembly plant and industry was humming with the Big Four American automobile industry producing heavy, inefficient gas guzzlers for America's new interstate highway system. Any able body American could see the USA in a Chevrolet, and my buddies had great high paying jobs with only a high school education. The future still referenced in political speeches in both parties is truly a fiction in today's global economy and part of America's mythic past. Yes, we still produce and out manufacture the rest of the world, but industry employs only 9% of the work force necessary to do so fifty years ago. The president emphatically states the need for education as the pathway to middle class mobility and middle class wages, yet education, and its value does not gain any political traction in contrast to the angry rhetorical trope that is part of every presidential speech referencing income inequality and stagnant wages. Far easier to stoke indignation and out right anger than to present reality based solutions that require today's citizens to invest in education.
2
Without giving any credence to the lying and fearmongering of the terrorist GOP, let's continue to be clear and honest about certain basic, economic facts:
1. The "unemployment rate": while yes, it's very easy to point to a number like 5%, truth requires that that never be mentioned without also immediately mentioning the Labor Participation Rate -- which is still at historic lows. So that glowy 5% number represents a fraction of a fraction of the people still not employed. Let's count the large number of people who have given up. The rising heroin/opioid epidemic is a clear signal of this despair.
2. Another thing about the 14 million new jobs. Yes, an impressive number, and if we'd had a Republican in charge for the past eight years, instead of just a Republican Wall of Shame formerly known as our Congress, you can bet that wouldn't have happened. But let's also be realistic: people lost good-paying, family-supporting jobs for jobs in the McJob Economy. The people who had barely enough to pretend to participate in The American Dream (aka Fantasy), have less now.
Given those two points, let's not get all breezy happy about mere job numbers.
3. Most powerful, best nation on Earth? Statistics shown by the White House during President Obama's speech indicate we're at the bottom of developed countries for democratic participation! Education elsewhere? Better, cheaper. Health care, retirement, the same. So, no. Guns, yeah but big deal.
1. The "unemployment rate": while yes, it's very easy to point to a number like 5%, truth requires that that never be mentioned without also immediately mentioning the Labor Participation Rate -- which is still at historic lows. So that glowy 5% number represents a fraction of a fraction of the people still not employed. Let's count the large number of people who have given up. The rising heroin/opioid epidemic is a clear signal of this despair.
2. Another thing about the 14 million new jobs. Yes, an impressive number, and if we'd had a Republican in charge for the past eight years, instead of just a Republican Wall of Shame formerly known as our Congress, you can bet that wouldn't have happened. But let's also be realistic: people lost good-paying, family-supporting jobs for jobs in the McJob Economy. The people who had barely enough to pretend to participate in The American Dream (aka Fantasy), have less now.
Given those two points, let's not get all breezy happy about mere job numbers.
3. Most powerful, best nation on Earth? Statistics shown by the White House during President Obama's speech indicate we're at the bottom of developed countries for democratic participation! Education elsewhere? Better, cheaper. Health care, retirement, the same. So, no. Guns, yeah but big deal.
2
Truth, destroyed by the American political machine, both parties.
1
During this historic speech, I couldn't help but reflect on the fact that the popular vote in the last presidential election was very much in favor of Obama and the Democrats. Yet, as the president specifically pointed out, through gerrymandering a GOP-dominated congress prevailed precipitating a deliberate paralysis of government, where a rump is holding the whole place to ransom. They don't have the "will of the people" behind them, only the voices of the carefully-selected rabble that sent them to Washington. The qualities of the GOP "base" are obvious as they now in an election year openly trash our nation with their radical and divisive agenda.
Obama was careful because rightfully he wanted to leave an upbeat message, but he might well have even been more explicit that this circumstance doesn't really jibe with the notion of the US as a global leader with a bunch of gleeful stalwart obstructionists holding court whose sole aim is to thwart governance at any cost with political impunity because their seats are safe. But his message included a warning that was clear enough ... this is an insidious form of plutocracy, a sinister development where elements of a ruinous anarchy are now emerging.
Obama was careful because rightfully he wanted to leave an upbeat message, but he might well have even been more explicit that this circumstance doesn't really jibe with the notion of the US as a global leader with a bunch of gleeful stalwart obstructionists holding court whose sole aim is to thwart governance at any cost with political impunity because their seats are safe. But his message included a warning that was clear enough ... this is an insidious form of plutocracy, a sinister development where elements of a ruinous anarchy are now emerging.
1
The historical record in the US is that republican policies have directly caused the most damaging economic catastrophes we have experienced. Hoover depressed us for generations. Reagan trickled down on us to create deficit financing. W cut taxes as he went to his war of ambition resulting in the most recent near economic depression.
The current American economic recovery is the envy of nearly every country in the world. Where Europeans practiced the republican mantra of austerity, they now wallow in stagnation. Had republicans not enforced austerity at the state levels, our recovery from 2008/09 would have been much stronger.
The current American economic recovery is the envy of nearly every country in the world. Where Europeans practiced the republican mantra of austerity, they now wallow in stagnation. Had republicans not enforced austerity at the state levels, our recovery from 2008/09 would have been much stronger.
1
The private sector has figured out how to reduce labor costs: hire full-time temps through agencies that can provide them for virtually every area of every industry. Business can avoid overtime, employee health care, workers compensation, and unemployment costs. Businesses, large and small, are doing what they can to protect profits, as they should. But it's also a major reason why wages have stagnated and national sentiment on the economy remains low. But wages could have been higher through public investment in public infrastructure.
The aging US infrastructure demands trillions of investment in such areas as high-speed rail, roads and bridges, space, health and energy research, and affordable higher education.
Yet Congress, virulent, vitriolic and nasty, so filled with hate, instead of working to solve problems, instead does nothing. This inaction is turning the U.S. into an immensely powerful yet bumbling and dangerous anachronism on the world stage, unable to lead or influence world events as it could 60 years ago. Obama was certainly not the firebrand his supporters had hoped, but some very good things were accomplished under his presidency. And it seems that no other Democratic president, given this Congress, could have done as well.
The aging US infrastructure demands trillions of investment in such areas as high-speed rail, roads and bridges, space, health and energy research, and affordable higher education.
Yet Congress, virulent, vitriolic and nasty, so filled with hate, instead of working to solve problems, instead does nothing. This inaction is turning the U.S. into an immensely powerful yet bumbling and dangerous anachronism on the world stage, unable to lead or influence world events as it could 60 years ago. Obama was certainly not the firebrand his supporters had hoped, but some very good things were accomplished under his presidency. And it seems that no other Democratic president, given this Congress, could have done as well.
3
It seems unbelievable that the news media, even MSNBC is asking Republican political consultants how, in their opinions, the Democratic candidates should be conducting their campaigns. And these old men, by and large, have the chutzpah to answer as if their opinions were at all proper in these circumstances. Mrs. Clinton chooses to politely and in good taste refrain from intruding into what is properly the other candidates' domains. And she is not the only one. I have heard Nancy Pelosi, not a candidate, similarly demur.
And also incredibly "news" is repeated on a daily basis of what a few people are saying. Predictably, the Republicans speak against any policy or achievement of this administration, whether or not their wanting to repeat their bad behavior and decisions from the past makes any more sense today...in modern times.
Although it may be heresy, I do not give much credence to the results of polls. Who exactly are these people who speak through the pollsters. One of the reasons we insist on the closed primary in Pennsylvania is to keep the ones against the party out and to give incentive to the fence-sitters to get a backbone.
So I am not persuaded to withdraw my support for the strong progressive advancements which we have made in the hard but steady recovery from the last Republican administration.
And also incredibly "news" is repeated on a daily basis of what a few people are saying. Predictably, the Republicans speak against any policy or achievement of this administration, whether or not their wanting to repeat their bad behavior and decisions from the past makes any more sense today...in modern times.
Although it may be heresy, I do not give much credence to the results of polls. Who exactly are these people who speak through the pollsters. One of the reasons we insist on the closed primary in Pennsylvania is to keep the ones against the party out and to give incentive to the fence-sitters to get a backbone.
So I am not persuaded to withdraw my support for the strong progressive advancements which we have made in the hard but steady recovery from the last Republican administration.
1
Why don't we all feel better? There is no dispute that the US economy is in a better state than it was in 2008. Still, there is a heavy cloud of despair when we face the realities that effect our quality of life: wealth gains by the 1% at the expense of the working middle class, gun violence, racial profiling, climate change, insurance companies reaping in record profits while we all pay into the Affordable Care Act with more limited options, and most importantly, corporations selecting the next political candidates who will bid their agenda to rape America
I read the NYT comments and see that many who feel disillusioned and feel powerless will vote for HRC and more of the "same old, same old" because they have no hope of defeating the machine behind her. The alternatives? There are also the hate fueling campaigns of Trump and his Republican challengers which make some lost souls feel better, but wow, are these the real voices of America? Only Bernie Sanders minces no words and takes on Big Money. He has consistently spoken to the issues affecting the middle class, and is inspiring young adults who normally opt out of voting because they are so disillusioned.
Those who want to set the cycle for optimistic change in motion will vote for Sanders. We do have a choice.
I read the NYT comments and see that many who feel disillusioned and feel powerless will vote for HRC and more of the "same old, same old" because they have no hope of defeating the machine behind her. The alternatives? There are also the hate fueling campaigns of Trump and his Republican challengers which make some lost souls feel better, but wow, are these the real voices of America? Only Bernie Sanders minces no words and takes on Big Money. He has consistently spoken to the issues affecting the middle class, and is inspiring young adults who normally opt out of voting because they are so disillusioned.
Those who want to set the cycle for optimistic change in motion will vote for Sanders. We do have a choice.
1
Obama is leaving the nation much better than he found it. If that is not heading in the right direction, I don't know what would be? Whether it be economic, environmental, health care, or use of our military, we are far better off than we were 7 years ago. People whose property values were ravaged by the Bush recession have regained much of their lost equity, people who lost their jobs have found others, and the federal deficit has been reduced by 75 percent. Republicans have done nothing to help achieve these outcomes, and all indications are that what they propose would return us to the absolute mess that Obama inherited.
3
What brought Pres. Obama to power was 8 years of Pres. Bush and the promise of change,. His supporters hoped he would take the pulpit and use his Dem. Congress to meet all the things that they wanted changed, but the list was long and the leadership needed not in the nature of the man. He wish to have the support of both sides of the aisle, if you remember and made concessions right off that marked him as a weakling in the minds of his opponents, and seldom mentioned but he was not another white male. So it is easy to say he has had little chance for change, save his healthcare plan. A lost moment in American History not another FDR. But we choose our leaders as the lesser of two evils and it will take more that votes to solve our problems. The politicians have to come to understand that the Nation has real basic problems in its structure that need tending and Bernie is the one who has given us the best diagnoses but can he solicit a following even in his own party, apparently not. So this story will go on for some time, unfortunately.
1
The reason it doesn't "feel like it" is that most of us aren't among the tiny group of people who have benefited from this strong economy - and there is a good reason for that: the loyal opposition are loyal to themselves only, not to the American people. Their response to Obama's speech reminds me of the old story about the young man who murders his parents and then urges the court to have mercy on him because he is an orphan.
What if the court agreed, and acquitted this young man? Most of us would conclude it was a miscarriage of justice and an abrogation of the court's responsibility. And yet that is exactly what the American public has done for the Republican party: while the Republicans have stood in the way of virtually every major economic policy proposed by this president, no matter how good for the nation, the voters have rewarded their cynicism by giving them gains in Congress and in state governments - gains which have been further utilized to bolster their position. Meanwhile, those who consistently fall for this routine continue to lose their economic footing.
As Obama passionately admonished, the future of our nation hinges on our becoming well informed and involved. Until and unless we do, it won't matter how good the overall economy looks - average Americans will continue to vote against their own interests, fall for cynicism, and paint themselves into a desperate corner.
What if the court agreed, and acquitted this young man? Most of us would conclude it was a miscarriage of justice and an abrogation of the court's responsibility. And yet that is exactly what the American public has done for the Republican party: while the Republicans have stood in the way of virtually every major economic policy proposed by this president, no matter how good for the nation, the voters have rewarded their cynicism by giving them gains in Congress and in state governments - gains which have been further utilized to bolster their position. Meanwhile, those who consistently fall for this routine continue to lose their economic footing.
As Obama passionately admonished, the future of our nation hinges on our becoming well informed and involved. Until and unless we do, it won't matter how good the overall economy looks - average Americans will continue to vote against their own interests, fall for cynicism, and paint themselves into a desperate corner.
1
The union is strong for the oligarchs who control it and benefit from it; that strength only makes life more difficult for the rest of us. These days, as a citizen of the US, I feel about as empowered as the residents of the USSR were whom I once viewed with pity. President Obama and Congress successfully bailed out and re-stabilized the banking system, funneling massive wealth from taxpayers to the undertaxed denizens of Wall Street, further entrenching a powerful elite that controls the political system.
The President sometimes appears to be a decent man who is caught is a very indecent system. When he said that many Americans feel "that the system is rigged in favor of the rich or the powerful or some narrow interest," it felt like a warning to the elites who placed him in power: "They're onto us." It would be so much easier to follow the President's State of the Union edict to avoid feeling that "change isn't possible and politics is hopeless," if there was just some evidence that change is possible and politics isn't hopeless. Indeed, he was elected for his message of hope -- hope that was quickly dashed once he took office.
As it is, moneyed elites control the American political system for their own interests. Until that changes, there isn't much else to talk about. The actors may change with elections but the system remains intact, assuring that real change will be minimal, and any changes that are made will be for the benefit of the power elite. And so it goes.
The President sometimes appears to be a decent man who is caught is a very indecent system. When he said that many Americans feel "that the system is rigged in favor of the rich or the powerful or some narrow interest," it felt like a warning to the elites who placed him in power: "They're onto us." It would be so much easier to follow the President's State of the Union edict to avoid feeling that "change isn't possible and politics is hopeless," if there was just some evidence that change is possible and politics isn't hopeless. Indeed, he was elected for his message of hope -- hope that was quickly dashed once he took office.
As it is, moneyed elites control the American political system for their own interests. Until that changes, there isn't much else to talk about. The actors may change with elections but the system remains intact, assuring that real change will be minimal, and any changes that are made will be for the benefit of the power elite. And so it goes.
6
Years ago, George Will wrote that 40% of the public will vote Republican, no matter what, and 40% of the public will vote Democratic, no matter what, and elections are won and lost on that middle 20%. To some extent, Will was correct, but it's more complex than that.
At the simplest, there are two factors: Voter registration and voter turnout.
The GOP has been doing a full-court press to cheat those Americans they think will vote Democratic out of their franchise, with voter ID laws, closing places of registration in Democratic districts, imposing un-Constitutional costs that are effective poll taxes (banned by the 24th Amendment), all based on the phony issue of "voter fraud". (the largest cases have been perpetrated by Republican zealots!)
It's harder for the GOP to discourage Democratic turnout, though there have been some outrageous but feeble attempts. No, poor Democratic turnout falls squarely on the Democratic Party that doesn't seem to have learned anything since the catastrophic defeat of 1994, when the sitting Speaker lost his seat. The lessons of Howard Dean have been lost as the party reverted to the old ways with the incompetent, autocratic, atavist DNC Chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Yet again, the DNC under Wasserman-Schultz, is failing to energize the Democratic base as it failed in 2014, as W-S attempts to "protect" and ensure Hillary Clinton gets the nomination. When Democrats say they will vote for Trump rather than Clinton, there's a problem!
At the simplest, there are two factors: Voter registration and voter turnout.
The GOP has been doing a full-court press to cheat those Americans they think will vote Democratic out of their franchise, with voter ID laws, closing places of registration in Democratic districts, imposing un-Constitutional costs that are effective poll taxes (banned by the 24th Amendment), all based on the phony issue of "voter fraud". (the largest cases have been perpetrated by Republican zealots!)
It's harder for the GOP to discourage Democratic turnout, though there have been some outrageous but feeble attempts. No, poor Democratic turnout falls squarely on the Democratic Party that doesn't seem to have learned anything since the catastrophic defeat of 1994, when the sitting Speaker lost his seat. The lessons of Howard Dean have been lost as the party reverted to the old ways with the incompetent, autocratic, atavist DNC Chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Yet again, the DNC under Wasserman-Schultz, is failing to energize the Democratic base as it failed in 2014, as W-S attempts to "protect" and ensure Hillary Clinton gets the nomination. When Democrats say they will vote for Trump rather than Clinton, there's a problem!
3
We haven't reached rock-bottom yet, but if one of the Republican candidates wins the presidency later this year, we probably will. So it may be true, you only miss your water when the well is dry. In the end, that may be the best thing that could happen if we are put the false claims to rest. It's the obstruction at every juncture that has so hampered any real reform that could lead to more income equality and a better future for the middle class.
That's a difficult lesson to learn when you're so entrenched in the ideology that you've believed in for so long, especially when the ones peddling the false claims refuse to cooperate.
Still, I wonder, given the overwhelming evidence that the ultra-wealthy are selling us an empty bag of goods, do we have to hit rock-bottom before enough people awake from their slumber?
That's a difficult lesson to learn when you're so entrenched in the ideology that you've believed in for so long, especially when the ones peddling the false claims refuse to cooperate.
Still, I wonder, given the overwhelming evidence that the ultra-wealthy are selling us an empty bag of goods, do we have to hit rock-bottom before enough people awake from their slumber?
1
Our nations economy is doing as well as it can until we address the fairness issues President Obama included in the State of Union. As our nation accepts and uses technology, we need a thoughtful rational discussion of how to deal lack of jobs. Some should consider retraining, while others may not qualify. What do we do with displaced workers where no jobs can be attained? We have many of this type of questions that the next President and Congress need to study and resolve. These many issues are more important than lowering the wealthy's taxes.
2
Republicans tell better stories - fairy tales. They drove the country to within days of a second depression, exacted great pain on the people and yet they successfully told and sold that ugly history as a fable for the gullible and shallow punditry among us - who then retold it endlessly and through to this day to our citizenry.
What and who is to blame for that malaise spread upon the Obama presidency over the last seven years? My money says Hope and Change was to blame. Coming out of the horrors of the Great Recession we needed ferocity and we got Hope and Change. We needed passion and we got an academic. We needed a political storyteller, a fire side chatter and we got naivete. All told, we got a president profoundly unsuitable for political confrontations and the Republicans walked all over him and his story for the last seven years
When Obama moved into the White House the very first thing he did was throw out the greatest bully pulpit in the world. Let's hope the Obama post postmortems are a learning experience for Democrats.
What and who is to blame for that malaise spread upon the Obama presidency over the last seven years? My money says Hope and Change was to blame. Coming out of the horrors of the Great Recession we needed ferocity and we got Hope and Change. We needed passion and we got an academic. We needed a political storyteller, a fire side chatter and we got naivete. All told, we got a president profoundly unsuitable for political confrontations and the Republicans walked all over him and his story for the last seven years
When Obama moved into the White House the very first thing he did was throw out the greatest bully pulpit in the world. Let's hope the Obama post postmortems are a learning experience for Democrats.
2
We have a Congress, and the President is not omnipotent. Most of Obama's time in office has been to develop workarounds to the pending catastrophes wrought by Republican legislation. The Affordable Care Act is the best example.
Is America better today for having eight years of Barack Obama's presidency?
Imagine where we would be winding up eight years of McCain/Palin.
Is America better today for having eight years of Barack Obama's presidency?
Imagine where we would be winding up eight years of McCain/Palin.
Do you wonder why more of the President's speech was not focused on rising inequality and who stands in the way of reducing inequality?
Obama would have had to place the blame squarely on both Democrats and Republicans. Reagan started the trend towards greater inequality and Republican Presidents have added to it, but Democratic Presidents Clinton and Obama have followed similar policies, only marginally better.
Thomas Frank wondered why the working class Republicans in Kansas were voting against their economic self-interest. Now the middle class Democrats are beginning to feel threatened and therefore Mrs. Clinton is no longer the favorite as her policies are essentially Republican-Lite. If you cannot put food on the table, send your child to a decent school, are worried about losing your home, you are less concerned about LGBTQ rights, contraception, free speech, gender equality etc. which were at the top of her Democratic platform.
Unfortunately Sanders is scaring away people by harping on the word socialist. If he were to just stick to explaining how his policies are more friendly to the working class, he would make people think. Republican candidates are whipping up fear. Democratic candidates should whip up debates on policies that will benefit all Americans, not just the top 10%.
Obama would have had to place the blame squarely on both Democrats and Republicans. Reagan started the trend towards greater inequality and Republican Presidents have added to it, but Democratic Presidents Clinton and Obama have followed similar policies, only marginally better.
Thomas Frank wondered why the working class Republicans in Kansas were voting against their economic self-interest. Now the middle class Democrats are beginning to feel threatened and therefore Mrs. Clinton is no longer the favorite as her policies are essentially Republican-Lite. If you cannot put food on the table, send your child to a decent school, are worried about losing your home, you are less concerned about LGBTQ rights, contraception, free speech, gender equality etc. which were at the top of her Democratic platform.
Unfortunately Sanders is scaring away people by harping on the word socialist. If he were to just stick to explaining how his policies are more friendly to the working class, he would make people think. Republican candidates are whipping up fear. Democratic candidates should whip up debates on policies that will benefit all Americans, not just the top 10%.
3
How is Sanders scaring anyone? He is ahead in NH and Iowa and gaining nationally on HRC. He doesn't really even invoke the word "socialist" in speeches very much, if it all, anymore. He's become the best candidate to win.
1
He will not win if he is the candidate. USA is too right wing for him, electoral college makes only a couple of states important, and those swing states will not go for Bernie. Sorry to rain n the parade, but we have been here before (George McGovern and Nader as the Gore spoiler)
The best method for assessing economic performance uses the fiscal budget years for each president. So lets assess the hard economic data for each president's budget years. Start with jobs growth.
We need about one million jobs per year to keep up with working age population growth (about 85k per month). Clinton added 20 million jobs (about 18 million private sector in eight budget fiscal years, GW Bush lost almost 2 million private sector jobs in eight fiscal years, and Obama has added about 13 million private sector jobs in six budget years, on trend to hit +17-18 million by his last budget FY2017.
So the Democrats added private sector jobs at a rate of over 2 million per year, while the Republicans lost jobs, and dug the USA into a "jobs hole" of about 10 million. With the jobs added by Obama, we dug out of the Bush hole, and now are within 3 million jobs of matching population growth.
Over the last year, monthly jobs growth hit 250k; we are adding jobs at 2.5X the working age population growth, and this six years after the recession ended.
This economic performance beats the pants off the Republican record of jobs growth. We would have added even more jobs sooner, if the Democrats could have ended the Bush tax cuts earlier (that ballooned the deficit), and used this larger budget to build infrastructure projects during a period of slack construction demand.
We need about one million jobs per year to keep up with working age population growth (about 85k per month). Clinton added 20 million jobs (about 18 million private sector in eight budget fiscal years, GW Bush lost almost 2 million private sector jobs in eight fiscal years, and Obama has added about 13 million private sector jobs in six budget years, on trend to hit +17-18 million by his last budget FY2017.
So the Democrats added private sector jobs at a rate of over 2 million per year, while the Republicans lost jobs, and dug the USA into a "jobs hole" of about 10 million. With the jobs added by Obama, we dug out of the Bush hole, and now are within 3 million jobs of matching population growth.
Over the last year, monthly jobs growth hit 250k; we are adding jobs at 2.5X the working age population growth, and this six years after the recession ended.
This economic performance beats the pants off the Republican record of jobs growth. We would have added even more jobs sooner, if the Democrats could have ended the Bush tax cuts earlier (that ballooned the deficit), and used this larger budget to build infrastructure projects during a period of slack construction demand.
7
Paul Klemencic,
If I were looking for a job, it wouldn't be among 99.999 percent of the ones you've cited. Short weeks (fewer than full-time hours), lousy benefits, many paying lower real and actual wages or salaries than before the Bush Recession. Life sucks, and then you retire... if you're lucky.
If I were looking for a job, it wouldn't be among 99.999 percent of the ones you've cited. Short weeks (fewer than full-time hours), lousy benefits, many paying lower real and actual wages or salaries than before the Bush Recession. Life sucks, and then you retire... if you're lucky.
In absolute terms, President Obama was in office during one of the worst recessions and today we have emerged with a strengthening economy. It seems obvious as to why so many are disenfranchised. Rather than a country of opportunity, the Democrats have been preaching class warfare for eight years. No longer are we a country of opportunity but rather a place where race primarily and class secondarily, establish our future. No longer can you work hard and achieve, because the 1% have stacked the world against you.
More people are covered by healthcare but those are the very people most disenfranchised. Everyone else has seen taxes raised and the top 10% dramatically so.
The US foreign policies starting with Bush and exacerbated by Obama has resulted in a highly unstable world where at every turn we feel the tug of engagement and fear. Like the class war, we've entered in a religious war.
Politically, the two parties cannot agree on anything but their hate for each other. Politicians have figured out the re-election is best served through division and extremism.
Why would anyone feel that the future is brighter when the only evidence of improvement is meager. For virtually every group in America the future is uncertain and politicians push an agenda that says, "self actualization is impossible, your only hope is to kick the other guy out and elect me"
More people are covered by healthcare but those are the very people most disenfranchised. Everyone else has seen taxes raised and the top 10% dramatically so.
The US foreign policies starting with Bush and exacerbated by Obama has resulted in a highly unstable world where at every turn we feel the tug of engagement and fear. Like the class war, we've entered in a religious war.
Politically, the two parties cannot agree on anything but their hate for each other. Politicians have figured out the re-election is best served through division and extremism.
Why would anyone feel that the future is brighter when the only evidence of improvement is meager. For virtually every group in America the future is uncertain and politicians push an agenda that says, "self actualization is impossible, your only hope is to kick the other guy out and elect me"
1
this is reasonably astute, but could be summarized by two statements: 1. our two-party system has failed us, and 2. the special interest lobby (i.e. lawyers) is slowly and steadily ruining the country.
1
We think the future is bright because we know American history. The radical billionaire-run right wing that quite literally seized control of the government has been seen before. About every 30-40 years. There will be a turnaround, Democratic President and Congress, new Supreme Court justices, and we will move towards what we really are.
The system is rigged (the emperor has no clothes) from tax cuts for "job creator" to union busting supreme courts, to tax breaks for the rich, to "death tax" propaganda, the entire system is being controlled by campaign contribution and the outsized influence of money. The Republican party has obstructed anything proposed by Obama (the Other) while compassionately cutting food stamps during a recession, among other horrendous laws that seek to create a disenfranchised, disengaged, and non voting public. I wish that paranoia was the basis for my "rant", unfortunately it's all too true. Until money is reigned in, until the 24 hour news cycle decides to elevate the conversation and until we see the nakedness of our elected officials, it will continue.
13
The selling point for Dems should be just as St. RWR asked in 1980 " Are you better off today than you were 4 years ago; how about 8 years ago " ?
Dems have delivered as much as they could, ham-strung by back-to-back radical rightist Congresses under Boehner, producing the least amount of legislation in all 230 years of the Democracy - the Founders set things up as a partnership, and Dems have done almost all they could weighed down with the egregiously gerrymandered Boehner Congresses, and a media-plex freed from the Fairness Doctrine, that is catering to its advertisers.
In 2015, Steve Benen's (of MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show) analysis shows that only 4 of the top 20 most frequent Sunday morning TeeVee guests were Dems:
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-great-2015-sunday-show-race
The 80/20 tilt in the corporatized media shows the effects of in-group bias:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/06/us/politics/in-justices-votes-free-spe...
that media should be taking special pains to guard against, lest they forget to portray what's really happening (or not happening, in terms of reversing income/wealth inequality), which often runs counter to the interests of their advertisers, and corporate managers/owners.
One need only look at the Dan Rather and Ted Koppel brouhahas should verification be necessary about the pressure for media to tilt right.
Dems have delivered as much as they could, ham-strung by back-to-back radical rightist Congresses under Boehner, producing the least amount of legislation in all 230 years of the Democracy - the Founders set things up as a partnership, and Dems have done almost all they could weighed down with the egregiously gerrymandered Boehner Congresses, and a media-plex freed from the Fairness Doctrine, that is catering to its advertisers.
In 2015, Steve Benen's (of MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show) analysis shows that only 4 of the top 20 most frequent Sunday morning TeeVee guests were Dems:
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-great-2015-sunday-show-race
The 80/20 tilt in the corporatized media shows the effects of in-group bias:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/06/us/politics/in-justices-votes-free-spe...
that media should be taking special pains to guard against, lest they forget to portray what's really happening (or not happening, in terms of reversing income/wealth inequality), which often runs counter to the interests of their advertisers, and corporate managers/owners.
One need only look at the Dan Rather and Ted Koppel brouhahas should verification be necessary about the pressure for media to tilt right.
34
"During the debates, nearly every Republican candidate has brandished the fact that wages have been stagnant for decades." If I am correct both the Democrats AND the Republicans have been in power. So both should feel responsible for "stagnant" wages. Finally, it might also account for the fact that those who are wealthy have made gains at a time when unions have lost bargaining power or have disappeared.
29
I think the President needed to be constrained about economic issues, given their role in most GOP candidates positioning. If he had come on strong a la Bernie Sanders, and "told it like it is"--that the wealthy aren't investing in their workers, that their accumulation of riches have been made largely courtesy of Citizens United and their ability to rig the rig the rules thanks to the willing cooperation of a money-happy Congress--it would have turned the State of the Union into a highly charged campaign event and diminished his message of hope for the future.
He had to leave that message to the Democrats who absolutely must challenge the "solutions" being proposed by the right: every single candidate supports further tax breaks for the wealthy, fewer regulations, tax reform, and revision of entitlement programs. That's right: despite the fact the recovery has gone to the top tier, leaving the bottom tier largely just happy to keep or get their low level jobs, the right's solution is double down and provide further rewards for their wealthy donors' benefit.
The President mentioned money in politics only in passing, but it's created this oddest of situations where competing economic visions of reality are being fought on the national stage. But as he concluded, voters are going to have to get involved and decide for themselves which vision is true.
He had to leave that message to the Democrats who absolutely must challenge the "solutions" being proposed by the right: every single candidate supports further tax breaks for the wealthy, fewer regulations, tax reform, and revision of entitlement programs. That's right: despite the fact the recovery has gone to the top tier, leaving the bottom tier largely just happy to keep or get their low level jobs, the right's solution is double down and provide further rewards for their wealthy donors' benefit.
The President mentioned money in politics only in passing, but it's created this oddest of situations where competing economic visions of reality are being fought on the national stage. But as he concluded, voters are going to have to get involved and decide for themselves which vision is true.
30
The reality of the economy is missed by stat shots (statistical measures). The trend charts tied to periods of recession and prosperity show the history of American wages follows an organic pattern. Once conditions are set, a mass movement follows and demands are made through direct action for higher wages, against private resistance and dire predictions of failure never realized.
The recession wiped out family net worth, a visceral kick and inescapable loss still heavily felt. But blaming Obama shouldn't be an excuse for shifting responsibility; instead look at towns and work places where wages have been increased--it's the result of sustained mass action in all most every case! Votes, boycotts, public rallies have all brought local change; these are models to follow.
To slide the responsibility onto government or the President abandons the most important role of the citizen's voice, to be raised with others standing together for change. Advocacy is a pillar of our history! We must look to ourselves to strengthen the demands we must be paid more for the value we produce and we must know that corporate resistance and its old arguments have been disproven and defeated before. We must become a part of the solution! It is not a number of dissatisfaction; it's a measure of our irresponsibility and absence of engaged participation that is on us to change.
The recession wiped out family net worth, a visceral kick and inescapable loss still heavily felt. But blaming Obama shouldn't be an excuse for shifting responsibility; instead look at towns and work places where wages have been increased--it's the result of sustained mass action in all most every case! Votes, boycotts, public rallies have all brought local change; these are models to follow.
To slide the responsibility onto government or the President abandons the most important role of the citizen's voice, to be raised with others standing together for change. Advocacy is a pillar of our history! We must look to ourselves to strengthen the demands we must be paid more for the value we produce and we must know that corporate resistance and its old arguments have been disproven and defeated before. We must become a part of the solution! It is not a number of dissatisfaction; it's a measure of our irresponsibility and absence of engaged participation that is on us to change.
47
The power of big corporations must be halted. The only candidate really addressing this problem is Bernie Sanders. It has been poorly addressed by this president, or our congress. It doesn't seem to be entirely a partisan issue. The Republicans seems to be most obvious representatives of the power of large international corporations, but many Democrats are also in their pockets.
96
My problem with the oft-repeated Sanders cure-all for American doldrums, beyond its simplism and the unlikelihood of it ever being implemented by Congress, is that it smacks of scape-goatism. Substitute the name of some other group for “big corporations”, “Wall Street” and “the banking industry” into his rhetoric and you'll see what I mean.
Obama also addresses it - over the years and specifically, last night. Did you watch?
1
I skip any comments that prattle on about Democrats or Republicans being better or worse.
Those commenters have been completely duped and blinded by some strange Repub vs Dem team spirit.
Your comment is spot on--pretty much every politician in BOTH parties serves the corporations' big money and that is the overarching problem in this country. Our country is falling apart because of it.
Only Sanders addresses this.
Those commenters have been completely duped and blinded by some strange Repub vs Dem team spirit.
Your comment is spot on--pretty much every politician in BOTH parties serves the corporations' big money and that is the overarching problem in this country. Our country is falling apart because of it.
Only Sanders addresses this.
1
Thank you NYT for this realist op ed.
The recovery hasn’t done much for stuck salaries of the majority.
Retirement will be a problem for many says recent op ed. We need new ways to finance it.
The Times just had an Upshot piece “Even Insured Can Face Crushing Medical Debt.” In 2015 we haven’t solved the problem of how to insure all at low cost, which other nations have done for generations. The blockage to this is built in to our politics, but that can’t be admitted.
Obama is talking positive to bolster Hillary for the election. Hillary talks positive about Obama to do same. Establishment liberal pundits are talking positive about both.
They all can either frankly admit our economic problems, thus take steps to deal with it, or they can downplay them and accentuate the positive. And there is some positive.
But truly addressing the worsening income inequality takes more direct govt action than the mainstream Democrats are willing to take. Only Bernie Sanders is truly grappling with it in his proposals. These are hardly discussed pro/con in the news media.
I caught Bernie Sanders’ tough, skeptical facial expression, which said plenty during the Obama’s speech.
Just saying “we’ve made progress but need to make more” is always the line politicians use---for inequality and racial bias that continues. That way we’re led to accept good intentions and lack of action in various areas.
Well, let’s look forward to Hillary Clinton’s state of the union speech next.
The recovery hasn’t done much for stuck salaries of the majority.
Retirement will be a problem for many says recent op ed. We need new ways to finance it.
The Times just had an Upshot piece “Even Insured Can Face Crushing Medical Debt.” In 2015 we haven’t solved the problem of how to insure all at low cost, which other nations have done for generations. The blockage to this is built in to our politics, but that can’t be admitted.
Obama is talking positive to bolster Hillary for the election. Hillary talks positive about Obama to do same. Establishment liberal pundits are talking positive about both.
They all can either frankly admit our economic problems, thus take steps to deal with it, or they can downplay them and accentuate the positive. And there is some positive.
But truly addressing the worsening income inequality takes more direct govt action than the mainstream Democrats are willing to take. Only Bernie Sanders is truly grappling with it in his proposals. These are hardly discussed pro/con in the news media.
I caught Bernie Sanders’ tough, skeptical facial expression, which said plenty during the Obama’s speech.
Just saying “we’ve made progress but need to make more” is always the line politicians use---for inequality and racial bias that continues. That way we’re led to accept good intentions and lack of action in various areas.
Well, let’s look forward to Hillary Clinton’s state of the union speech next.
22
Why should we look forward to Hillary's State of the Union speech if by your own admission nothing will change? Both political parties are ignoring the vast majority of working Americans and continuing to march to the orders of big campaign donors. I see nothing to look forward to with Hillary who is just as embedded in the rigged system as any republican. Vote Bernie and send a message to the mainstream democratic party that they can not take your vote for granted simply because republicans are a bit worse.
1
Irony, Tony---HIllary, next up in that spot. Then what?
What we are seeing is a profound loss of faith in a system that has reneged on its basic promise of fairness. This lack of fairness is so obvious that even the blind can see it and all the king's men cannot cover it up with their moneyed politics. Now that the unfairness has reached the educated middle class, there is hope that a legal voter lead revolution will right this wrong. Unfortunately, the uneducated armed class is also awakening to their complicity in their own decline and the royalists may face a hot revolution. Trust is a valuable thing to lose and impossible to reclaim.
218
The "basic promise of fairness" mentioned is that of opportunity, not of outcome. While its certainly true not every child will be grow up to a hedge fund manager or titan of industry, the opportunity to go to school, study hard and excel, leading to a comfortable middle-class lifestyle, is by and large, available to all. Our parents and grandparents generation did not believe everyone needed granite counter tops, a 60-inch HDTV and the latest model German sedan to be fulfilled. The marketing of luxury goods to the masses, and the belief that if someone is apparently doing better than I am, therefore the system is rigged against me, is flawed.
1
The Union is not strong. I voted twice for Obama. I will not vote for Hillary. I would vote for Bernie but he wont win. The Clintons are too powerful.
That means I, a democrat, will have to vote for Trump.
Obama helped Wall Street and Big Healthcare and nobody else during his Presidency.
Healthcare stocks went up 300% in the last 5 years. Wall Street bonuses are higher than ever.
Its all wrong.
Obama did nothing for main street people or his own black people or latinos. Gay rights happened on its own. Obama wasnt even for Gay rights at the beginning of his Presidency.
Sad. America is sad. The dream for most of us is over.
That means I, a democrat, will have to vote for Trump.
Obama helped Wall Street and Big Healthcare and nobody else during his Presidency.
Healthcare stocks went up 300% in the last 5 years. Wall Street bonuses are higher than ever.
Its all wrong.
Obama did nothing for main street people or his own black people or latinos. Gay rights happened on its own. Obama wasnt even for Gay rights at the beginning of his Presidency.
Sad. America is sad. The dream for most of us is over.
50
Betty, you had better be sure that Mr. Trump represents your interests. Mr.Trump has power because of his wealth. I would encourage you to vote for someone else.
47
Sanders has my vote, even though Obama let us down so miserably.
Trump represents the worst in America, and fortunately has no hope whatsoever of being elected.
Still, I do understand the anger that is garnering him this support. Hopefully Sanders will be able to capitalize on it, and draw all Americans to his side.
There has never been a time when we need a President such as Sanders, more than now.
Trump represents the worst in America, and fortunately has no hope whatsoever of being elected.
Still, I do understand the anger that is garnering him this support. Hopefully Sanders will be able to capitalize on it, and draw all Americans to his side.
There has never been a time when we need a President such as Sanders, more than now.
1
So you would vote for the candidate from Dystopia. To give a final push over the edge? Swell.
6
Politics can never save us,
15
After the First Great Depression our Nation's economic psyche didn't heal for over forty years. There were still grandmothers who in the 1980's were still frugal due to their experience of growing up in the Depression. Hopefully, all of us have become more weary of the potential pitfalls of overextending.
14
The over-whelming majority of families don't "over-extend". The cost of living is too high. Working people can't pay for necessary utilities or medical care without borrowing or taking second jobs. Get off your moral high horse.
2
So if wages have been stagnant for decades why is all the blame for that being put on this president? While many factors have contributed to it trickle down economics as initiated by St Ronnie is by far the biggest cause. And to a man/woman that is what all the GOP candidates are offering again. One of these days maybe all those angry base voters will figure out where the blame really belongs. Trump is no different his tax plan is evil.
408
For the same reason that most people seem to believe that Reagan cut the deficit when he actually ran it up to a greater level than all his predecessors combined.
4
@ikenneth
The President always receives blame when things don't work out and it's fair because they all run on promises, hope and how bad the other guy is versus themselves.
Obama has done nothing much to deal with immigration and companies abusing Green Cards and moving jobs offshore and that very much contributes to stagnant wages.
Hey but the 1% have done fine so who cares about the non-college educated in the US. They are probably just hanging on to their guns and religion anyways.
The President always receives blame when things don't work out and it's fair because they all run on promises, hope and how bad the other guy is versus themselves.
Obama has done nothing much to deal with immigration and companies abusing Green Cards and moving jobs offshore and that very much contributes to stagnant wages.
Hey but the 1% have done fine so who cares about the non-college educated in the US. They are probably just hanging on to their guns and religion anyways.
"Trump...his tax plan is evil."
Under Trump's plan, everyone gets to keep more of what they earn. This is "evil"?
Under Trump's plan, everyone gets to keep more of what they earn. This is "evil"?
2
Maybe we'll feel a little better about the economy, after a couple hedge fund managers get thrown into jail...
157
I would settle for clawing back some of their income in the form of fair taxes. Since the top ten hedge fund managers make about a billion per year, each, we could put a couple hundred thousand people back to work with the income from those ten hedge fund bosses.
2
And why would the candidates Give Obama credit or admit some things are better? Doom and Gloom gets more votes.
We have the same elections coming up in France, though in our case, the economy is worse, official unemployment around 11% and our dear President has not succeeded as Obama has with his immediate in office actions; too bad Obama is not French, we could use him.
We have the same elections coming up in France, though in our case, the economy is worse, official unemployment around 11% and our dear President has not succeeded as Obama has with his immediate in office actions; too bad Obama is not French, we could use him.
68
Jean Louis.......As a 13 year American expatriate, I still prefer my life in Provence, with Holland's mediocre performance as President, than my life in America.
My neighbors include Swiss, Belgian, British, Americans, Germans, Danish, and Dutch who all prefer living here than their home country. We can't all be wrong!
My neighbors include Swiss, Belgian, British, Americans, Germans, Danish, and Dutch who all prefer living here than their home country. We can't all be wrong!
1
RBS just advised its clients to get out of the market, before it soon nosedives, & move into high-security, low yield bonds. JPMChase & MorganStanley predict similarly, make your object capital preservation, not return on capital. IOW, play it as safe as you can. Why? Because we'll soon experience a replay of 2008 crash & recession. Why? Reasons similar to 2008. How come? Because the US govt didn't indict a single bankster behind the 2008 disaster, nor did it launch any real DoJ investigation. SEC still snoozing & Congress on the Wall St take. Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. But never fear, the 1% are solid … only most of the rest of us are about to suffer again. Thanks to this govt, particularly Eric Holder now cashing in at Covington, and his successor that good pal of Wall St, Ms. Lynch. She'll be rewarded, as will the Obamas … but us? Ha. HRC licking her chops … Bernie, you better be ready. And Sen. Warren, start sounding the call. You, too, Joe Biden.
27
Where's the bubble? For anything to "crash", it has to fall from somewhere. No, the economy will putter along for the forseeable future. Nothing will change.
Maybe we will see dollar a gallon gas? It's hard to feel sorry for the oil workers when they have been sticking it to us for thirty years.
Maybe we will see dollar a gallon gas? It's hard to feel sorry for the oil workers when they have been sticking it to us for thirty years.
3
Just looking at the dollars and cents is not enough, although even by that measure, the state of the union is anything but strong. As the author himself notes, essentially all the money has gone to a few, and for the majority things are awful. Looking at the aggregate number is thus no good.
The real rot in the state of the union is in the sociopolitical fabric. Fat cats wreck the economy and the lives of tens of millions of people permanently, and not a single one faces any kind of justice, other fat cats poison the water and the ground and the air, and not a single one faces any justice, the politicians kiss the behinds of the fat cats and get reelected at rates that would put the Soviet Union to shame, the supreme court brazenly disenfranchises the common man, and one of the political parties has even given up trying to hide its true fascist nature.
So yes, the house has a new paint job and looks great from the curb, but the foundation is deeply cracked and crumbling.
The real rot in the state of the union is in the sociopolitical fabric. Fat cats wreck the economy and the lives of tens of millions of people permanently, and not a single one faces any kind of justice, other fat cats poison the water and the ground and the air, and not a single one faces any justice, the politicians kiss the behinds of the fat cats and get reelected at rates that would put the Soviet Union to shame, the supreme court brazenly disenfranchises the common man, and one of the political parties has even given up trying to hide its true fascist nature.
So yes, the house has a new paint job and looks great from the curb, but the foundation is deeply cracked and crumbling.
52
President Obama's critics in my own party almost always bring up FDR, and pine away how they wished Obama had the same fire as FDR had. I say with everyone else that FDR had indeed a giant sized influence on the American political landscape and did change it forever. FDR's passion, vision and tireless work is cast into American history, the two are inseparable.
The accomplishments of FDR are held up to Obama, the inevitable question, why doesn't Obama do what FDR did? Let's take a view at political realities, that were as strong a factor in FDR's days as ours.
In FDR's first midterm election in 1934 the American people gave FDR a filibuster proof Congress. With that FDR did as he wanted, and he changed American politics forever. The American people were suffering and FDR brought them real relief.
What did Obama get in his first midterm of 2010? The Tea Party. Repubs took over the House of Reps, and we see what ensued after that, government shutdown the least of the troubles. Obama was re-elected in 2012 to survive a Romney in the WH.
But what happened in 2014 midterms? The most expensive midterm election ever combined with the lowest voter turnout since 1942 (a war year) gave the Tea Party the Senate and bolstered the count in the House of Reps.
Not what FDR got. You know, a president can only do so much. It was up to us to support Obama. I feel very much that it was us voters that squandered fantastic opportunities. We blew it, we could have done better. Much better.
The accomplishments of FDR are held up to Obama, the inevitable question, why doesn't Obama do what FDR did? Let's take a view at political realities, that were as strong a factor in FDR's days as ours.
In FDR's first midterm election in 1934 the American people gave FDR a filibuster proof Congress. With that FDR did as he wanted, and he changed American politics forever. The American people were suffering and FDR brought them real relief.
What did Obama get in his first midterm of 2010? The Tea Party. Repubs took over the House of Reps, and we see what ensued after that, government shutdown the least of the troubles. Obama was re-elected in 2012 to survive a Romney in the WH.
But what happened in 2014 midterms? The most expensive midterm election ever combined with the lowest voter turnout since 1942 (a war year) gave the Tea Party the Senate and bolstered the count in the House of Reps.
Not what FDR got. You know, a president can only do so much. It was up to us to support Obama. I feel very much that it was us voters that squandered fantastic opportunities. We blew it, we could have done better. Much better.
468
Much of what you say is true, but FDR also knew how to utilize public outrage to his advantage. For example, he created the Pecora commission and utilized the public outrage it generated to push through financial reforms that served the country well for decades. Not so with President Obama, under whose watch none of the actors went to jail, and the too-big-to-fail banks are larger than before the Great Recession.
After FDR, the country was much more financially secure. Mr. Obama leaves us arguably more financially perilous.
After FDR, the country was much more financially secure. Mr. Obama leaves us arguably more financially perilous.
32
@Jack - Obama for a while had 60 votes in the senate as well. Instead of using it to advance his agenda he squandered it by being passive (waiting and waiting till anything on health insurance reform was constructed by others), by endlessly watering down proposals to get one GOP lady to join his proposals, and by letting others define the narrative. In his first years he was more a facilitator than a leader. Only after years of losses did he admit the GOP did not want to cooperate. By that time he had lost his 60 vote majority.
So Obama in 2010 did not get the lowest voter turnout since 1942 because of bad luck. It was because he was too passive and too invisible.
So Obama in 2010 did not get the lowest voter turnout since 1942 because of bad luck. It was because he was too passive and too invisible.
7
FDR used his talents to bring along his party to get the necessary majorities to actually make changes happen. Without doing that Obama has had only small successes and the country has been stifled by the Republicans, who blame him for absolutely everything.
Obama has been, for the most part, a catistrophic failure for the Democratic party.
Obama has been, for the most part, a catistrophic failure for the Democratic party.
3
It is easy to understand the misperception of the real state of the Union by many. The Republicans have perfected the Big Lie propaganda technique and they are assisted in spreading disinformation about the economy and our security by the right wing press. The facts are irrelevant, the history of the GW Bush regime is to be forgotten, they just keep repeating the same mantra, We are worse off than before, We are weaker, We are worse off, etc.... and those who have not the ability to think for themselves or read and listen to diverse news sources buy into this doom and gloom.
128
labor participation is at the lowest in decades, whom to blame for it ??
1
Francis
labor participation is at the lowest in decades, whom to blame for it ??
Uhh ... aging baby boomers ? This has been covered ad nauseum. where have you been ?
The labor participation rate was highest under Clinton. If you care so much about it, you ought to vote for Hillary.
And in NY, the labor partiipation rate is at an all-time high. Are you ready to credit Bill deBlasio ?
labor participation is at the lowest in decades, whom to blame for it ??
Uhh ... aging baby boomers ? This has been covered ad nauseum. where have you been ?
The labor participation rate was highest under Clinton. If you care so much about it, you ought to vote for Hillary.
And in NY, the labor partiipation rate is at an all-time high. Are you ready to credit Bill deBlasio ?
4
@Francis You may recall that union busting has been a GOP preoccupation since Ronnie Reagan acted his way into the White House in 1981 and then destroyed the Air Traffic Controllers Union- rapid downhill from there.. Don't blame Obama - that makes no sense whatsoever.
5
Obama's fine speech was perfectly in line with Bernie Sanders's speeches, slightly distant from Clinton's, and very far from those of the Republicans.
66
obama has a good speech writer
1
The flailing America is a press invention that, like the Ebola crisis, America is all too eager to lap up.
Every generation has its problems ( Cold War, Oil Crisis, Iraq War, Vietnam, Watergate ... ), and this generation is no different.
Believe me, if anybody thinks that the Republican response to their personal problems will be anything other than "shut up and put on your big boy pants", they are sorely mistaken.
Every generation has its problems ( Cold War, Oil Crisis, Iraq War, Vietnam, Watergate ... ), and this generation is no different.
Believe me, if anybody thinks that the Republican response to their personal problems will be anything other than "shut up and put on your big boy pants", they are sorely mistaken.
104
Republicans think that the only way to win the White House is to denigate the President. They have convinced many mentally indigent people that the US is a police state, Obama is coming for your gun, the borders are porous and the US economy is about to fail permanently. None of this bogus nonsense is true, but Republicans and truth are not on a first name basis. But until citizens read and understand actual facts, there is nothing that can be done.
99
MAIN STREET VS WALL STREET While the economy has improved and there are more jobs, people are not earning adequate wages nor receive decent benefits. The 1% keep on hogging more and more of the new wealth. The GOP would have to cooperate to get the system that's rigged toward the 1% to the detriment of the 99%. But they're worshiping an ideology built on falsehoods and the detritus of third rate ideas composted over many years. It may produce good soil, but no pay dirt for the average American. What benefit do GOP members get for waging war on the middle class? I guess it means they can say, See, we told you so! Don't look at us. It's those guys over there that are messing with you. It's pathetic.
23
How ironic that the master of verbal eloquence and rhetoric has not been able to sell the wonders of the "remarkable turnaround the economy has experienced over the last seven years".
Mr. Covert though correctly explains why:"Given that positive change has yet to filter down into most people's pockets, it's a tough selling point". And when it comes to one's pocket, words are not enough, and especially since a good part of that recovery has gone to the rich and income inequality has gotten worse under President Obama's watch.
Mr. Covert though correctly explains why:"Given that positive change has yet to filter down into most people's pockets, it's a tough selling point". And when it comes to one's pocket, words are not enough, and especially since a good part of that recovery has gone to the rich and income inequality has gotten worse under President Obama's watch.
58
The Congress controls the "power of the purse". From day one of the Obama presidency it has been the stated goal of the GOP to obstruct anything that might acrue credit to President Obama or the Democratic party.
We are in year seven of a dysfunctional by design congress.
Despite the machinations of McConnell, Boehner/Ryan, the so called "freedom caucus" and all the corporations that fund them America is in much better shape than it was at the end of the last GOP presidency.
Imagine for a moment where the US and the world would be today had the loyal obstructionists of the Republican Party decided to govern rather than destroy from within.
We are in year seven of a dysfunctional by design congress.
Despite the machinations of McConnell, Boehner/Ryan, the so called "freedom caucus" and all the corporations that fund them America is in much better shape than it was at the end of the last GOP presidency.
Imagine for a moment where the US and the world would be today had the loyal obstructionists of the Republican Party decided to govern rather than destroy from within.
6
Things indeed continue to get worse, but not because of anything Obama has done. It is Wall Street and its GOP minions that strive to destroy unions, cut taxes on the wealthy, destroy Social Security and medicare, and assist corporations in their race to lower wages.
8
The climate has also heated up during Obama's watch. That doesn't make him responsible. Congress is impeding actions to address inequality.
5
The President had on a nice suit tonight and looked very spiffy. I mention this only because the stock market is tanking.
11
Not much has changed for the main street
1
We haven’t been this divided since the 1960s, perhaps not since our civil war. The president certainly inherited a deep recession but they end eventually, and deep ones usually rebound faster and more explosively; yet, despite claims that we’ve recovered, it remains that unemployment at 5% is only admirable when we ignore that our labor participation rate, 62.6%, is the lowest it’s been since 1977 and a ton of the jobs created as part of this “recovery” involved burger-flipping work, not the middle class jobs held by those who no longer even look for employment. All one needs to do to understand general feelings of economic “malaise” is listen to the DEMOCRATIC presidential contenders, who seek to exploit it.
Despite the president’s claims otherwise, we have a global geopolitical framework largely crumbling around us, from the Greater Middle East to sub-Saharan Africa to Ukraine and Eastern Europe to Central and South America to China and elsewhere in Asia. With a world that unstable, what is to happen to the approx. forty MILLION American jobs that depend to one extent or another on global trade, which requires stability? Even Mrs. Clinton opposes the Trans Pacific trade bill, as do some Republicans and a LOT of Democrats.
So … who SAYS that the state of our union is strong? I mean, BESIDES Mr. Obama at what might be the last major speech he’ll give as president? It may be that it doesn’t feel strong because nobody but our president and his marketers believes it IS.
Despite the president’s claims otherwise, we have a global geopolitical framework largely crumbling around us, from the Greater Middle East to sub-Saharan Africa to Ukraine and Eastern Europe to Central and South America to China and elsewhere in Asia. With a world that unstable, what is to happen to the approx. forty MILLION American jobs that depend to one extent or another on global trade, which requires stability? Even Mrs. Clinton opposes the Trans Pacific trade bill, as do some Republicans and a LOT of Democrats.
So … who SAYS that the state of our union is strong? I mean, BESIDES Mr. Obama at what might be the last major speech he’ll give as president? It may be that it doesn’t feel strong because nobody but our president and his marketers believes it IS.
19
Disingenuous at best. A major reason things are not better is lack of spending on infrastructure and energy (despite near free financing costs these past years) and cutting middle class public sector jobs, all thanks to GOP opposition. Despite this the state of the economy is surprisingly good. Objectively that is a huge achievement.
126
Richard,
I am surprised that the America that Obama has delivered is not the America you believe in. I am surprised to hear the world's strongest economy with job growth and unfettered capitalism is not really what true blue conservatives really truly and honestly want. All my life I have heard conservatives tell me they are not Fascists they only want the kind of America Obama has delivered and now that they have it suddenly they want something else.
What do you want?
I am surprised that the America that Obama has delivered is not the America you believe in. I am surprised to hear the world's strongest economy with job growth and unfettered capitalism is not really what true blue conservatives really truly and honestly want. All my life I have heard conservatives tell me they are not Fascists they only want the kind of America Obama has delivered and now that they have it suddenly they want something else.
What do you want?
173
Guys:
Yah, well, the Times itself has run numerous news analyses about how the people don't believe the hype about how well the economy is doing -- evidenced by many things including an unwillingness to spend rather than to save precisely BECAUSE they're not confident in that economy or their place in it. Beyond that, current polls as to whether the country is headed in the right direction are markedly pessimistic.
You can merely parrot Mr. Obama's claims all you like -- it doesn't make them truer or even more compelling.
Yah, well, the Times itself has run numerous news analyses about how the people don't believe the hype about how well the economy is doing -- evidenced by many things including an unwillingness to spend rather than to save precisely BECAUSE they're not confident in that economy or their place in it. Beyond that, current polls as to whether the country is headed in the right direction are markedly pessimistic.
You can merely parrot Mr. Obama's claims all you like -- it doesn't make them truer or even more compelling.
13
I agree that the jobs outlook in America is far brighter than when President Obama took office. America was hemorrhaging jobs in 2009; we're adding them in 2016.
But too many of us are still on the sidelines through no fault of our own, and millions more are experiencing underemployment or stagnant incomes. We need to do more to lift all boats.
But too many of us are still on the sidelines through no fault of our own, and millions more are experiencing underemployment or stagnant incomes. We need to do more to lift all boats.
80
Depend on which numbers you are looking at, career politicians knows how to game the system!
Uh....no. That is not what happened.
Ask some of those who lost their jobs in 2008-2009. They are either still out of work -- some are on welfare -- some got on SSDI (faking symptoms) -- some found work, but way beneath their skill level and former pay.
If you lost a middle management job, and are now a stock boy (at 50!) at the local Walmart Supercenter -- you might make the statistics look like everything is OK (you are working, after all) -- but in fact, your life is a trillion times worse than it was.
I just got back from our annual drive down to Florida (from Ohio). You would not be believe the poor parts of the country you can see on that 1000 miles drive, just from the highway. Dying cities. People living in trailer parks and tar paper shacks (literally). Shuttered factories, all over -- that's the scariest thing. It breaks your heart.
The people here who post from places like NYC or DC just have no idea, because their tiny corner of the world is wealthy & thriving. But that is not the real America.
Ask some of those who lost their jobs in 2008-2009. They are either still out of work -- some are on welfare -- some got on SSDI (faking symptoms) -- some found work, but way beneath their skill level and former pay.
If you lost a middle management job, and are now a stock boy (at 50!) at the local Walmart Supercenter -- you might make the statistics look like everything is OK (you are working, after all) -- but in fact, your life is a trillion times worse than it was.
I just got back from our annual drive down to Florida (from Ohio). You would not be believe the poor parts of the country you can see on that 1000 miles drive, just from the highway. Dying cities. People living in trailer parks and tar paper shacks (literally). Shuttered factories, all over -- that's the scariest thing. It breaks your heart.
The people here who post from places like NYC or DC just have no idea, because their tiny corner of the world is wealthy & thriving. But that is not the real America.
4
Reply to Concerned Citizen -
Drive a thousand miles, in any direction, from Ohio, and you will see what you described, everywhere. Even on the outskirts of the largest cities, the evidence of economic malaise is rampant.
Rarely will any mainstream media outlet discuss it, as to do so will affect the "all is well" perception the seek to maintain.
Suggesting we are better than most other places on the planet, is simply another sop, the elites use to maintain the alternate reality they create.
Mr. Sanders may be the answer, if he is able to overcome the attempt to marginalize him.
Drive a thousand miles, in any direction, from Ohio, and you will see what you described, everywhere. Even on the outskirts of the largest cities, the evidence of economic malaise is rampant.
Rarely will any mainstream media outlet discuss it, as to do so will affect the "all is well" perception the seek to maintain.
Suggesting we are better than most other places on the planet, is simply another sop, the elites use to maintain the alternate reality they create.
Mr. Sanders may be the answer, if he is able to overcome the attempt to marginalize him.
Yes, the "conservative" message of gloom and doom that the press prefers and pushes every day makes it difficult to get Good News about President Obama and his administration's successes. Politico ran a six-page article about his accomplishments and it even surprised me. One of the most amazing things was this: "Health care is still getting more expensive, but since 2010, the growth rate has slowed so drastically that the Congressional Budget Office has slashed its projection for government health spending in 2020 by $175 billion. That’s enough to fund the Navy for a year, or the EPA for two decades. As one spokesperson said, “if these results continue, they’ll fundamentally change the fiscal trajectory of the country.”
Now THAT is success. Thank You, President Obama!
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/obama-biggest-achievement...
Now THAT is success. Thank You, President Obama!
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/obama-biggest-achievement...
245
Obama is the most divisive president on race and income to walk in this nation. The recession is not over for most sectors. health care is in shambles. The press is a hack for the administration. You could not be further from the truth, and there are too many sources to prove it. You might check the actual stats from the GAO. Without a doubt - he actually exceeded Carter as the worse president in history. No facts to debate.
16
under obama care, insurance companies, career politicians and doctors are minting money, and middle class ended up paying higher cost in terms of co-pays and out of pocket expenses
1
Well then @Sick, I'll put you down as a "No" vote.
1
No President, alone, can reverse these trends. The President needs the help of the voters who must show their feelings by voting. High voter participation is important. Don't just vote for a President but vote for members of Congress based on their support of Democratic candidates. An overwhelming majority from an overwhelming turn-out will change things. Trust me.
Don't be persuaded by commercials, media news, and rumors of past records. Everyone should realize that the media is largely controlled by BIG MONEY interests and a lot of money will be spent to control the questions at the debate & lie about the issues. There is only one big issue and that is are you getting your opportunity to better your family and your future.
Hopefully, every district will have a contest for you to cast your vote. If your income is less than 300,000 a year, please cast your vote for a Democrat. It is in your interests and the interest of your children to vote for a Democrat or an Independent who says that they support a Democrat for President. It is the rational, sensible, & practical thing to do. All of the other details of things that bother you can be taken care of later.