Their messaging, buttressed by government data, dredges up all the old canards about how the hard-working middle class has been swindled out of income while the top five percent of rich Americans are wallowing in ill-gotten cash. Their arguments are dripping with envy, deceit and prejudice.
If America was blessed with real journalists, Obama's indoctrination would be exposed as political claptrap rather than a factual representation. But the media has invested six years in propping up President Obama and it has no intention of abandoning their oracle.
In this debate, numbers can be used to prove almost anything, but the difference is deciphering the data to clarify the meaning. A number without an explanation is just a figure. To bring some transparency to the issue, here are some indisputable facts being ignored by the media:
There is no universally recognized definition of middle class. In fact, surveys find the majority of Americans believe they are middle class. One reason for the confusion is there are a myriad of ways to define lower, middle and upper class. Just to mention a few: household income, total wealth, median income, pre-tax and after-tax incomes and real income including federal benefits. Using any one of these methodologies to compute income will produce either lower or higher dollar amounts for each household. That's why politicians prefer using the term "middle class" because it is elusive to define. Middle class is more perception than reality for average Americans.
The middle class has lost ground under President Obama. By any measurement, the so-called middle class is worse off under the president who claims he is fighting for them. Take median household income. When Obama was anointed president, the median income was $56,290. In 2013, the last year for which figures are available, that number had shrunk to $52,250. Another popular measure is per capita income, which includes the earnings of all Americans. The nation's per capita income was $29,849 when Obama become the commander-in-chief, but by 2013 it had dipped to $28,184. There is not a single measurement that shows the plight of the middle class has improved under the president's policies.
The middle class has not suffered the most in the recession. The Congressional Budget Office earlier this year published new findings about income levels for Americans. Their conclusion: Since 2000, pre-tax and after-tax incomes among Americans in the bottom 90 percent of income distribution have improved, while the top one percent of earners' real incomes have fallen. The data shows the after-tax income of those in the bottom fifth have increased 20 percent while the top one-percent have dipped four percent, according to CBO calculations. That may seem like nonsense to those who consume news from the mainstream media. However, the top one percent saw the biggest percentage shrinkage of their income during the recession. On average, their before-and-after tax incomes slid more than one-third. It is easy to understand why. Just 10 percent of American households own 80 percent of the stocks. They lost millions in wealth when the markets cratered. With the rebound in the stock market, they have recorded hefty gains.
Those evil rich people are not awash in money. President Obama has made it his mission in life to paint rich people as billionaires with lavish lifestyles, complete with personal chefs and sleek jets. It plays well to those with low education and the simpleminded. But using Bureau of Census figures, the top five percent of earners in the U.S. are those with incomes starting at $196,000. Many of them are small business people. There are only 513 people in the U.S. with a billion dollars or more in wealth, according to the latest Forbes Magazine rankings. Most of those in the top five percent earn far less than $1 million. Even if the top five percent of earners paid every single dime they earned in taxes, it would still not enable the U.S. government to balance the budget.
The irony of the president's carping about middle class distress and burgeoning income inequality should not be lost on Americans. The middle class has done worse under the current administration than any in history. The income gap has widened with Obama at the helm.
His policies are squarely to blame. More families are dropping from the ranks of the middle class into poverty. The biggest factors are the loss of jobs and long-term unemployment. Extending unemployment insurance, an Obama imperative, has led to the growing numbers of long term unemployed.
Obama's signature health care reform has caused many businesses, especially those with less than 50 employees, to slash hours and lay off workers. Nearly 300 large business have reduced hours for employees to get below the 32-hour threshold mandated in Obamacare.
As already illustrated, the wealthiest Americans have benefited from a sustained stock market rise, fueled by the Federal Reserve's easy money policies. Obama has appointed members to the Fed board who are determined to keep interest rates unnaturally low, which drives more investment in stocks.
Yet somehow Obama fails to grasp how his policies have helped to create the very situation he finds so detestable. The president could learn from Reaganomics. Under Ronald Reagan, middle class families saw their real incomes grow by an average of 12.6 percent during the boom that lasted from 1982 until 1989.
The media may believe President Obama is the smartest man in the room. But if he was, he would know how dumb it is to double-down on failed policies and expect a different result.
The irony of the president's carping about middle class distress and burgeoning income inequality should not be lost on Americans. The middle class has done worse under the current administration than any in history. The income gap has widened with Obama at the helm.
His policies are squarely to blame. More families are dropping from the ranks of the middle class into poverty. The biggest factors are the loss of jobs and long-term unemployment. Extending unemployment insurance, an Obama imperative, has led to the growing numbers of long term unemployed.
Obama's signature health care reform has caused many businesses, especially those with less than 50 employees, to slash hours and lay off workers. Nearly 300 large business have reduced hours for employees to get below the 32-hour threshold mandated in Obamacare.
As already illustrated, the wealthiest Americans have benefited from a sustained stock market rise, fueled by the Federal Reserve's easy money policies. Obama has appointed members to the Fed board who are determined to keep interest rates unnaturally low, which drives more investment in stocks.
Yet somehow Obama fails to grasp how his policies have helped to create the very situation he finds so detestable. The president could learn from Reaganomics. Under Ronald Reagan, middle class families saw their real incomes grow by an average of 12.6 percent during the boom that lasted from 1982 until 1989.
The media may believe President Obama is the smartest man in the room. But if he was, he would know how dumb it is to double-down on failed policies and expect a different result.
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