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No Thank You, Obama
Townhall.com ^ | September 20, 2016 | Stephen Moore

Posted on 09/20/2016 7:03:25 AM PDT by Kaslin

Last week, while touting the new Census report on income and poverty in America, Barack Obama took credit for $2 a gallon gasoline, and immodestly shouted to his crowd of supporters: "Thank you, Obama."

I don't want to sound ungrateful, but given that for eight years your administration has done everything to decapitate the oil and gas industry that gave us low gas prices, sorry: No thanks are in order, Mr. President.

Even more amazing was Obama's victory lap on the income numbers. Yes, incomes for middle-class families rose by an impressive 5 percent in 2015. And poverty fell. Thank goodness. It's about time.

But the Census report was anything but cause for celebration. It is a stinging indictment of the policy results of both the George W. Bush and the Obama legacies. They both miserably failed and are equally culpable for the sad state of the American family's finances today.

Census found that American incomes are lower today (adjusted for inflation) than they were in 2007. What kind of recovery is this, when we still haven't made up the lost ground from a recession that happened seven years ago? Thank you, Obama.

Even more worrisome is the Census revelation that Americans are poorer today than they were in 2000. In other words, for 15 years, average families have made no progress at all in terms of their personal financial situations. That's a decade and a half of no growth. That's sad. The Bush administration has to be held accountable for this malaise, since most of it happened on Bush's watch. This is a good point to make to the pro-Bush "never-Trumpers," who keep sanctimoniously denouncing Trump's policies as reckless. They should look in the mirror.

Other decade-long trends brought to light by the Census report were equally gloomy. We still have more than 43 million Americans in poverty today. About 1 in 7 of our citizens is poor. The absolute number of poor people is so large it is now the equivalent of every resident of California being in poverty. Obama's record on fighting poverty has been a complete failure. The number of families that are poor grew by 3.2 million since the self-proclaimed savior entered office. Thank you, Obama.

If the poverty rate stood today where it was 15 years ago, we would have 7 million fewer Americans under the poverty threshold.

Why is poverty higher? Two reasons. One is that economic growth has been abysmally low over the last decade. And second: a smaller share of adults are actually working. Getting a job and a paycheck is usually a good way to move out of poverty, but we now have a near-record number of adults who are unemployed. Thank you, Obama.

These numbers are not just worrisome; they are scandalous. They point to a decade of failed policies enacted by our clueless political leaders. As the great Reagan economist Arthur Laffer has put it so aptly, we keep punishing success through taxes and rewarding failure through welfare, and then we wonder why we are getting nothing but failure.

One other depressing statistic is the lack of economic progress for black Americans under Obama. You won't likely hear this from Black Lives Matter or the NAACP, but blacks have lost ground economically since Obama entered office. Their incomes have fallen by 2 percent. That's especially disappointing because blacks already have much lower incomes than whites and Asians, so they are falling further behind relatively. Thank you, Obama.

The left's flimsy explanation for all this slow growth is that this is the best America can do in the 21st century. But Donald Trump put it very well in his economic speech last Thursday at the New York Economic Club when he admonished the liberal policies that have put us in this current state. "This isn't the best America can do; this is the best they can do," he explained.

He's right. Tax cuts, regulatory relief, energy production, school choice and repealing Obamacare will fix these problems and create, as John F. Kennedy put it half a century ago, a rising tide that lifts all boats.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: bho44; bhoeconomy; stephenmoore

1 posted on 09/20/2016 7:03:25 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

$)#@)& !)_*%+


2 posted on 09/20/2016 7:05:47 AM PDT by laplata ( Liberals/Progressives have diseased minds.)
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To: Kaslin

Typical politician. Take the credit pass the blame. This country has not had a comprehensive energy policy in 50 years. Clueless!


3 posted on 09/20/2016 7:19:05 AM PDT by t4texas (No koolaid for me. Thanks!)
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To: Kaslin

I am convinced that 0 has played a central but hidden role in tanking the oil market. There has to be some yet to be revealed quid pro quo going to the Saudis to persuade them to open the tap. We know that 0 has killed oil demand by destroying the economy.


4 posted on 09/20/2016 7:45:57 AM PDT by con-surf-ative
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To: Kaslin

Domestic Shale fracking is what gave us $2 gas.

This is something Obama and his EPA scumbags have tried to destroy.

Obama also halted the pipeline from Canada to Texas which would have create a million jobs.

Obama is the lord of the flies.


5 posted on 09/20/2016 7:51:00 AM PDT by Flavious_Maximus
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To: Kaslin

Right off the end of the pier NUTS.

.


6 posted on 09/20/2016 7:53:43 AM PDT by TLI ( ITINERIS IMPENDEO VALHALLA)
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To: Kaslin

Our demented, egomaniacal president once again strokes himself in public.


7 posted on 09/20/2016 7:53:53 AM PDT by Jack Hammer
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To: TLI

Like Clinton taking credit for the cold war peace dividend...


8 posted on 09/20/2016 8:09:59 AM PDT by Dr. Pritchett
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To: t4texas
The only place Berry wants to drill is his own ass. There been plenty of drilling activity in the white hut. No Berry that's not oil running down your leg.
9 posted on 09/20/2016 8:15:05 AM PDT by peeps36 (Obama = the skidmark on America's underwear.)
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To: Kaslin

“Thank you, Masked Man”


10 posted on 09/20/2016 8:23:12 AM PDT by oblomov (We have passed the point where "law," properly speaking, has any further application. - C. Thomas)
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To: Kaslin

Anything good that has happened in America in the last 7 1/2 years, has happened IN SPITE of OBASTARD.


11 posted on 09/20/2016 11:04:59 AM PDT by 5th MEB (Progressives in the open; --- FIRE FOR EFFECT!!)
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To: con-surf-ative
I am convinced that 0 has played a central but hidden role in tanking the oil market.

Supposedly, Iran's oil exports have more than tripled this year. That's Obama lifting sanctions, assisting Iran & OPEC in flooding the market to capture share and kill competition...

12 posted on 09/20/2016 12:35:57 PM PDT by DBeers (The concept of peace in Islam requires not co-existence but submission.)
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To: laplata

Ditto to what you posted.

“$)#@)& !)_*%+”


13 posted on 09/20/2016 1:06:52 PM PDT by Gator113 ( Go Trump, Go! Just livin' life my way. Don't worry, everything's gonna be alright. 👍 &#1)
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To: Gator113

:)


14 posted on 09/20/2016 1:44:49 PM PDT by laplata ( Liberals/Progressives have diseased minds.)
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