Well, it's time for another of president Obama's famous "pivots" to the economy. For the last five years, every time things get rocky for Obama, he announces that he is going to turn his full attention to the economy so as to help the middle class. We have heard Obama announce these pivots on at least five different occasions. At this point, Obama and his administration have pivoted so many times to the economy, that they must be dizzy. Actually, I think that they were dizzy before the pivot; it must just have made things worse.
In any event, the Washington Post announced this morning that Obama is going to use the State of the Union to turn to a populist agenda focused on the economy. Here is how the WaPo puts it:
Democrats consider President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday a launching point for a year of sustained assault on Republicans over a populist economic agenda, part of an effort to focus more on bread-and-butter issues and less on income inequality.
Party officials say they hope Obama’s speech will set the stage for Senate and House candidates to confront Republicans on issues such as the minimum wage, unemployment benefits and access to college education.
The WaPo unintentionally confirms the truth about these "pivots". They have not been efforts to help the middle class or the poor; they are political moves, the basis for launching an "assault" on Republicans. Obama and the Obamacrats have still not learned one basic lesson: people will judge them more by what they do than by what they say. In Obama's sixth year in office, this is more true than it has ever been. This is now the Obama economy. People want results, not Republican bashing.
Let's consider for a moment the big "issues" on which the WaPo focuses. The minimum wage is not going to swing a national campaign by Obama. First of all, the minimum wage only affects a small percentage of the population, even the working population. Second, it is not an issue where there is major Republican opposition. There may be some discussion about the proper level to which to raise the minimum wage, but my guess is that the House will pass something to raise the minimum wage this Spring. It will be hard to run a national campaign on and issue that is being considered in a conference committee.
Then there is the issue of unemployment benefits. Here too, I expect that the House will pass something to extend those benefits with a mechanism to pay for them. That will leave Obama arguing that we should not pay for the benefits. It is hardly a big populist issue.
The last issue mentioned by the WaPo is access to college. Who is against that? No one is the correct answer.
The real truth is that populism has never held sway across America. Even in the late 19th century when the movement began, it did not triumph at a national level. At least at that time, however, there was an actual battle in the country. Right now, to believe the Democrats, we have the wealthy on one side and the rest of us on the other side. The problem with that, of course, is that it is the Democrats whose policies most benefit the wealthy. The Obama economy has been constructed specifically to help the rich get richer. Both monetary and fiscal policy promote the rise of the stock market and commercial real estate, sectors which are the province of the rich, not the rest of us. At some point, the country may realize that while Obama is promoting his "populist" agenda, he is actually doing his best to help his fat cat friends.
In any event, the Washington Post announced this morning that Obama is going to use the State of the Union to turn to a populist agenda focused on the economy. Here is how the WaPo puts it:
Democrats consider President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday a launching point for a year of sustained assault on Republicans over a populist economic agenda, part of an effort to focus more on bread-and-butter issues and less on income inequality.
Party officials say they hope Obama’s speech will set the stage for Senate and House candidates to confront Republicans on issues such as the minimum wage, unemployment benefits and access to college education.
The WaPo unintentionally confirms the truth about these "pivots". They have not been efforts to help the middle class or the poor; they are political moves, the basis for launching an "assault" on Republicans. Obama and the Obamacrats have still not learned one basic lesson: people will judge them more by what they do than by what they say. In Obama's sixth year in office, this is more true than it has ever been. This is now the Obama economy. People want results, not Republican bashing.
Let's consider for a moment the big "issues" on which the WaPo focuses. The minimum wage is not going to swing a national campaign by Obama. First of all, the minimum wage only affects a small percentage of the population, even the working population. Second, it is not an issue where there is major Republican opposition. There may be some discussion about the proper level to which to raise the minimum wage, but my guess is that the House will pass something to raise the minimum wage this Spring. It will be hard to run a national campaign on and issue that is being considered in a conference committee.
Then there is the issue of unemployment benefits. Here too, I expect that the House will pass something to extend those benefits with a mechanism to pay for them. That will leave Obama arguing that we should not pay for the benefits. It is hardly a big populist issue.
The last issue mentioned by the WaPo is access to college. Who is against that? No one is the correct answer.
The real truth is that populism has never held sway across America. Even in the late 19th century when the movement began, it did not triumph at a national level. At least at that time, however, there was an actual battle in the country. Right now, to believe the Democrats, we have the wealthy on one side and the rest of us on the other side. The problem with that, of course, is that it is the Democrats whose policies most benefit the wealthy. The Obama economy has been constructed specifically to help the rich get richer. Both monetary and fiscal policy promote the rise of the stock market and commercial real estate, sectors which are the province of the rich, not the rest of us. At some point, the country may realize that while Obama is promoting his "populist" agenda, he is actually doing his best to help his fat cat friends.
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