I'm not sure how he works his unique brand of magic, but Dionne is one of those simpering puppy-dog-faced liberal pundits that manages to make Paul Krugmann sound like a responsible and clear-thinking adult.
Do you realize how hard that is to do?
“he will tend to the rise of economic inequality”
In order to equalize economic conditions of people,
you MUST, UNAVOIDABLY, punish the successful and reward the slothful.
Our side is simply too polite to call them on this sound bit.
/johnny
Obama made many pledges the first term and it went down hill every day.
Obama + pledge = Debt/unemployment
Huh. I still think government handouts are bribes for votes. Those receiving the handouts certainly turnout in force to support the ones giving the handouts.
And the offense that 'takers' take at being called a 'taker' is amazingly dishonest as well. If you 'take' more out of a system than to contribute to that system, you must be a net 'taker' by definition, right? Consider it as an engineering term, a statement of fact, rather than a derogatory appellation.
So they apparently believe they are entitled to 'take', and we are obligated to contribute, but it is poor form point out the irrevocable fact that they are taking from us because it makes them 'feel' bad?
Trying to benefit some or one group at the expense of others or another group is pressure group warfare and special interest group warfare which is the sign of a mixed economy in economics, eclecticism in politics, and pragmatism and altruism in philosophy.A free society, respecting the individual rights of all,a rational culture, and promoting the institutions of laissez-faire capitalism is the way to benefit the common good.
Speaking of delusions...
High paying manufacturing jobs?
Only if robots join labor unions.
The number of high paying blue collar jobs will never grow larger than the number today, and the number may in fact shrink.
By 2025 there will be commercially viable robots and machines that can perform most low skill factory jobs, and they will also make high skill jobs much faster and much more efficient.
On the factory floor, the digital revolution is still in its adolescence.
Last year I toured an Amazon.com grocery warehouse.
More than 5,000 stocked items, as I recall, everything in different sizes, shapes, weight, and fragility.
They had a fleet of little robots picking orders and delivering them straight to human packers.
Many bulk, sturdy items are delivered straight to the trucks for loading by humans.
Next robot in development for Amazon?
Truck loaders.
No question, the robots are slower than humans.
But they work 24/7 without breaks, and as the cost comes down, Amazon will just “hire” more of them.
“curtailed access to higher education”
Right. Curtailed access. That’s enough, now. I’m done. If someone can write that and not be tarred and feathered, what’s the point?
What Obama and his minions never mention is that there is an upper-upper class which somehow manages to avoid most of the taxes that are aimed at "the rich"; the taxes aimed at the rich instead end up hitting those who would invest the largest portion of the wealth they earn in pursuits which would generate more wealth. This in turn helps those in the upper-upper class maintain their privileged position, rather than risk losing it to the wealth generators those who would otherwise overtake them.