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Middle class decline looms over final years of Obama presidency
Reuters and Yahoo News ^ | 18 Jan 15 | Howard Schneider

Posted on 01/18/2015 11:45:39 AM PST by SkyPilot

Barack Obama enters the final two years of his presidency with a blemish on his legacy that looks impossible to erase: the decline of the middle class he has promised to rescue.

The revival of middle-class jobs has been one of Obama's mantras since he took office in 2009 fighting the worst economic crisis in generations. It was a major theme of his last State of the Union address and is expected to feature in the one scheduled for Tuesday.

Administration officials said on Saturday the president would propose higher capital gains taxes, new fees on large financial firms, and other measures to raise $320 billion for programs and tax breaks aimed at the middle class.

Obama's administration can take credit for stabilizing the U.S. economy, which is growing again and last year added jobs at the fastest clip since 1999.

But for the middle class the scars of the recession still run deep. Federal Reserve survey data show families in the middle fifth of the income scale now earn less and their net worth is lower than when Obama took office.

In the six years through 2013, over the recession and recovery that have spanned Obama's tenure, jobs have been added at the top and bottom of the wage scale, a Reuters analysis of labor statistics shows. In the middle, the economy has shed positions - whether in traditional trades like machining or electrical work, white-collar jobs in human resources, or technical ones like computer operators.

The trend is in plain sight in Dalton, Georgia, a manufacturing hub 90 miles (145 km)north of Atlanta. Massive factories that made it "the carpet capital of the world," were slammed by the collapse of the housing bubble.

(Excerpt) Read more at ca.news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: economy; gibsmedat; middleclass; obama
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

The most revealing tidbit on that booklet is “attended Columbia University”, which is standard affirmative action resume-speak for “Got straight D’s one semester and never graduated.”


21 posted on 01/18/2015 12:08:46 PM PST by Mr. Jeeves (Heteropatriarchal Capitalist)
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To: CyberAnt
Exactly .. that’s why this admin has NO PLANS TO HELP THE MIDDLE CLASS. They say it will .. but they have lied so much about so many things .. you cannot convince me they give a rats’ rear end about the middle class.

I truly believe that Obama attacks and destroys the Middle Class because he views them as overwhelmingly "white." Therefore, his attacks and war on the Middle Class is justified in his warped, anarchistic mind. He is "evening the score."

22 posted on 01/18/2015 12:10:44 PM PST by SkyPilot ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6)
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To: SkyPilot
Obama's administration can take credit for stabilizing the U.S. economy, which is growing again and last year added jobs at the fastest clip since 1999.

Check column 7 will he mention in his State of You'n Us speech the massive loss of jobs while he was ignoring the economy to force Obamacare on our Republic? If you take into account the 2007 number of Employed full time 121621 [thousands] Obama's job creation numbers are negative.

The table attempts to bring together numerous federal gov't sources.

The hyperlinks do not work here. Use this FR thread for the sources to keep this reply from being even bigger. here.

Labor Force Statistics from the Census Bureau Current Population Survey (CPS) and other federal sources. Comparing Obama to other administrations.

The data are annualized except when noted otherwise. All are monthly or quarterly. I use the last month / quarter of the year.

Taking into account the year preceding the administrations, compare the first six years of Reagan and Obama. Examples: using these spread sheet formulas:
(1986 value - 1980 value) / 1980 value and
(2014 value - 2008 value) / 2008 value

I get

If you take into account the 2007 number of Employed full time 121621 [thousands] Obama's number would be negative. About all that happened is despite Obama most of the jobs lost in the first few years of his admnistration were recovered by the end of 2014.

Gee. How come Obama had such big decreases in (Col 9.) Unemployed and (Col 10) Unemployed looking for full-time work? Guess.

Col 11 and Col 12 are the Unemployment rate and Unemployment rate of the full-time labor force, respectively. The rest of the columns are:

No Reagan years and includes Bush with Obama,

Simple addition of GDP percentages divided by six

Simple addition of GDP Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) percentage of GDP divided by six, seasonally adjusted at annual rates

In a consumer economy this is a critical factor. Consumption for personal goods and services. Thank goodness for Obamacare. :(

Year
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Year
2.
168693
170990
173046
174950
177133
178941
181365
183467
185253
232937
234825
236739
238712
240431
244169
246564
248843
2.
3.
107442
109057
110959
112160
114257
116211
118587
120593
122488
153645
154723
153591
153803
153995
155450
154989
156258
3.
4.
63.7
63.8
64.1
64.1
64.5
64.9
65.4
65.7
66.1
66.0
65.9
64.9
64.4
64.0
63.7
62.9
62.8
4.
5.
99499
100077
99120
102588
105944
108023
110492
113527
115947
146272
144091
138368
139155
140669
143303
144205
147344
5.
6.
59.0
58.5
57.3
58.6
59.8
60.4
60.9
61.9
62.6
62.8
61.4
58.4
58.3
58.5
58.7
58.5
59.2
6.
7.
82648
82799
80606
83997
87458
89259
91297
93914
95927
121621
118281
110906
111655
113269
115610
116826
119707
7.
8.
16843
17262
18409
18556
18487
18778
19194
19660
20053
24727
25836
27423
27444
27355
27684
27378
27657
8.
9.
7943
8981
11839
9572
8312
8188
8095
7066
6541
7374
10633
15223
14649
13326
12146
10784
8914
9.
10.
6612
7491
10111
8017
6891
6697
6586
5635
5236
6009
9009
13444
12867
11521
10338
9171
7478
10.
11.
7.4
8.2
10.7
8.5
7.3
7.0
6.8
5.9
5.3
4.8
6.9
9.9
9.5
8.7
7.8
7.0
5.7
11.
12.
7.4
8.3
11.1
8.7
7.3
7.0
6.7
5.7
5.2
4.7
7.1
10.8
10.3
9.2
8.2
7.3
5.9
12.
13.
61252
61933
62087
62790
62876
62730
62778
62874
62765
79291
80102
83148
84908
86436
88719
91575
92584
13.
pop.
227220
229470
231660
233790
235820
237920
240130
242290
244500
301230
304090
306770
309330
311590
313910
316160
319470
pop.
labor1 labor1
N N
N N
N N
N N
N N
N N
N N
N N
N N
123524 22810
121211 22138
116663 21290
117006 22153
118033 22647
119844 23216
120636 23787
122558 24890
labor1 labor1
force force
domestic foreign
born born
[1000s] [1000s]
PR2
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
68.2
67.9
67.2
67.8
67.4
66.4
66.1
65.9
PR2
UR2
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
4.7
7.6
11.0
10.6
8.8
8.0
6.5
5.3
UR2
income3
47,668
46,877
46,751
46,425
47,866
48,761
50,488
51,121
51,514
56,436
54,423
54,059
52,646
51,842
51,759
51,939
N
income3
median
income
Recession
Jan to Jul '80
Jul 1981 to
Nov 1982
-
-
-
-
-
-
Dec 2007
to
Jun 2009
-
-
-
-
-


Year
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Year
GDP
-0.2
2.6
-1.9
4.6
7.3
4.2
3.5
3.5
4.2
1.8
-0.3
-2.8
2.5
1.6
2.3
2.2
5
GDP
%
chg
PCE
3.32
-1.8
4.51
4.06
3.29
0.62
1.62
0.57
2.93
0.34
-3.16
-0.01
2.79
0.94
1.32
2.51
2.21
PCE
U-6
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
8.8
13.6
17.1
16.6
15.2
14.4
13.1
11.2
U-6
U-2
3.9
4.8
6.4
4.5
3.7
3.4
3.3
2.6
2.5
2.5
4.3
6.3
5.7
4.9
4.2
3.5
2.8
U-2
SSDI
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
823,106
895,011
985,940
1,052,551
1,025,003
979,973
884,894
810,973
SSDI

1labor: If second labor column (foreign born) is not shown hover the labor (domestic numbers) for foreign born numbers.

Source: to find the tables go here Data Retrieval: Labor Force Statistics (CPS)

HOUSEHOLD DATA Table A-7. Employment status of the civilian population by nativity and sex, not seasonally adjusted [Numbers in thousands]
Employment status and nativity. Then

Scroll down to "Retrieve Data"

The data that I include above are from the month of December except for 2014 where November is the last month with data available.

2 PR Civilian labor force participation rate, foreign born and UR unemployment rate, foreign born. See 1 for source.

3income: For the Census Bureau income data go here. Choose "Consumer Income Reports (P60)" then choose "P60-249 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2013" (pdf file).

About these tables

Use this FR thread for the sources to keep this reply to from being even bigger.
23 posted on 01/18/2015 12:13:17 PM PST by WilliamofCarmichael (If modern America's Man on Horseback is out there, Get on the damn horse already!)
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To: AEMILIUS PAULUS
The decline of the white middle class under this administration is conscious...

This would never have worked had they planned to campaign on destroying the middle class and then destroying it. So, they figured the next best way to destroy it is to campaign on helping the middle class while destroying it.

24 posted on 01/18/2015 12:14:09 PM PST by C210N (When people fear government there is tyranny; when government fears people there is liberty)
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To: SkyPilot

Well, gee. I wonder how my parents raised a family of 9 children with no health insurance? And their parents before them? And no foodstamps or Obama phones.


25 posted on 01/18/2015 12:14:33 PM PST by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
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To: Truth29
Blemish, I think not. It is one of his major accomplishments.

Lol. Sadly, you are correct.

When I listen to some conservatives like Michael Medved or Jay Sekulow say things like "I don't think Obama is deliberately trying to weaken the national security of the United States, he just is misguided when it comes to dealing with ISIS and Islamic terrorism" - I just shake my head.

Obama's strategy is succeeding on that front. All we have to do is go back and read the transcript of his 2009 Cairo speech, which was written by the Muslim Brotherhood.


Same thing for destroying the Middle Class. I agree, it is deliberate.

26 posted on 01/18/2015 12:16:22 PM PST by SkyPilot ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6)
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To: SkyPilot

Setup article for sotu speech. I expect to see a ton of articles tomorrow about the disastrous future for the middle class. Reagan, bush, and rich people will be blamed. Then while its fresh on people’s mind obama will roll out his “fix” for the problem Tuesday. Media will say the democrats are so courageous for taking the problems the middle class are facing head on and media paid analysts will say the presidents bold plan will work and it’s great. They will say this is want the middle class is calling for and if the republicans don’t pass it then they are racist and hate poor people.

How this regime works. Just another nail in Americas coffin


27 posted on 01/18/2015 12:17:08 PM PST by barmag25 (Cruz 2016)
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To: SkyPilot

Oh, I remember how they did it. They worked hard! At any kind of work they could get, including picking cotton, cutting grapes, picking peaches and common labor of any kind.


28 posted on 01/18/2015 12:18:39 PM PST by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
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To: SkyPilot
Administration officials said on Saturday the president would propose higher capital gains taxes, new fees on large financial firms, and other measures to raise $320 billion for programs and tax breaks aimed at the middle class.

That is like prescribing arsenic to treat cyanide poisoning!

29 posted on 01/18/2015 12:23:40 PM PST by piytar (If you don't know what taqiyya and the doctrine of abrogation are, you are a fool!)
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To: Jim Robinson
I wonder how my parents raised a family of 9 children with no health insurance? And their parents before them? And no foodstamps or Obama phones.

I hear ya.

I remember when I was 10 years old, I climbed a wire fence while visiting my friend, and impaled and ripped my Anconeus muscle in my arm. They pried me off the fence, bleeding and delirious from the pain.

Instead of the local emergency room, my mother took me to our local doctor. We had no insurance, and they always paid by check or cash. We couldn't afford surgery at the hospital, so he stitched me up as best he could with no local anesthesia (that cost extra). I still remember my mom and the doctor's assistant holding me down.

When food ran low, we ate what we could, and when one of my parents got some money they went to the grocery store. It was like Christmas morning for me and my brothers and sisters. There was food in the house! It was almost always gone quickly.

Today, I see do-nothing swiping their EBT at the supermarket, pizza parlor, etc. And they are not grateful - in fact, they expect even more.

30 posted on 01/18/2015 12:24:53 PM PST by SkyPilot ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6)
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To: SkyPilot

The middle class has been targeted for destruction. We don’t serve the purposes of the self-appointed elites. They’d like to wipe us out directly, but that would be too obvious so we are being dragged through a prolonged decline that is both financial and spiritual.


31 posted on 01/18/2015 12:25:45 PM PST by Nepeta
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To: Logical me
Most of the middle class around me are using credit card just to survive.

I see that as well.

32 posted on 01/18/2015 12:26:26 PM PST by SkyPilot ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6)
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To: C210N

In short “double speak.”


33 posted on 01/18/2015 12:27:40 PM PST by AEMILIUS PAULUS
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To: C210N

In short “double speak.”


34 posted on 01/18/2015 12:27:52 PM PST by AEMILIUS PAULUS
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To: SkyPilot

Doing to the American Kulaks what Stalin did to the Russians without the gulags...yet.


35 posted on 01/18/2015 12:28:47 PM PST by Eagles6 (Valley Forge Redux. If not now, when? If not here, where? If not us then who?)
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To: SkyPilot

Obama started his presidency with a million Middle class speeches ,will he end it the same way


36 posted on 01/18/2015 12:29:53 PM PST by molson209 (Blank)
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To: WilliamofCarmichael

It enrages me how Obama’s bureaucrats are able to manipulate statistic with impunity, and the media cooperates spreading the lies. Remember during the 2012 election, the media was awaiting with baited breath the unemployment numbers? Suddenly, they announced that employment had improved “far beyond expectations.” The former CEO of GE, Jack Welch, wrote an editorial calling them liars to their faces. It didn’t matter. Then, 2 months later the BLS “revised” their statistics, again.


37 posted on 01/18/2015 12:32:57 PM PST by SkyPilot ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6)
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To: MuttTheHoople

We have seen zero growth in wages, a significant lessening of our net worth over the last 7 years to the tune of about 30% less. We’re holding our own...but inflation over the last few years especially in fuel costs have eaten up family vacations. Haven’t done one since this POS became pResident. I’ve had time off, but they are stay-cations, not travel. I work in the yard, paint, and the like, take the kids to things locally but nothing spectacular.


38 posted on 01/18/2015 12:35:34 PM PST by Ouderkirk (To the left, everything must evidence that this or that strand of leftist theory is true)
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Comment #39 Removed by Moderator

Comment #40 Removed by Moderator


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