By Stephen Lendman
7-29-13 |
America's
always been separate and unequal. Today it's worse than ever in
modern times.
Wealth disparity between rich and poor is unprecedented. Annually
it widens. Government complicity with business bears full responsibility.
It's worse than ever under Obama.
Census data show half of US households impoverished or bordering it.
People don't have enough to live on. Growing millions face unconscionable
destitution. Force-fed austerity worsens things.
Obama mandates it. He calls it "shared sacrifice." Ordinary
people and America's most disadvantaged sacrifice so rich ones can share.
It's official administration policy. It has bipartisan support. Expect
much worse ahead. Back room deals assure it. America's social contract's
on the chopping block for elimination.
Obama accelerated the process. He deplores social justice. His rhetoric
rings hollow. On July 27, The New York Times headlined "Obama Says Income Gap Is Fraying US Social Fabric,"
saying:
Upward mobility "was part and parcel of who we were as Americans,"
he said. "And that's what's been eroding over the last 20, 30 years,
well before the financial crisis."
"If we don't do anything, then growth will be slower than it
should be. Unemployment will not go down as fast as it should. Income
inequality will continue to rise. That's not a future that we should
accept."
He bears full responsibility. He mandated force-fed austerity. He's
uncompromising. Don't expect Times and other scoundrel media to explain.
"If the economy is growing, everybody feels invested," he
said. Everybody feels as if we’re rolling in the same direction."
He lied calling the economy "far stronger" than four years
ago. Recovery on his watch is none at all. Main Street Depression conditions
affect most households. They're getting worse, not better.
Millions live from one paycheck to the next. They're one expensive
illness or lost job away from impoverishment, homelessness, hunger and
despair.
Obama cut back room deals with Republicans. He did it secretly. He
claims otherwise. He lied saying:
"I will seize any opportunity I can find to work with Congress
to strengthen the middle class, improve their prospects, improve their
security."
"I'm not just going to sit back if the only message from some
of these folks is no on everything, and sit around and twiddle my thumbs
for the next 1,200 days."
A previous article said he's waging financial war on humanity. He's
doing it at home and abroad. He's done it throughout his tenure. He
supports capital's divine right. He's beholden to monied interests.
They own him.
Whatever they want they get. Popular needs go begging. Obama claims
he supports a "thriving middle class." He's destroying it.
He's doing it systematically, willfully and maliciously.
He's on the hustings. According to Politico, he's "re-focus(ing)
his oft-meandering message back on the economy."
It's old wine in new bottles. It's repackaged duplicity. He says one
thing. He supports another. His approval rating's marginally down.
Months earlier, it was 53%. Now it's 45%. On July 27, his weekly address focused on a "better bargain for the
middle class." It was typical Obama. Say one thing. Mandate another.
A White House press release said:
"In this week’s address, President Obama told the American
people about his speech at Knox College on Wednesday, where he discussed
the cornerstones of what it means to be middle class, including having
a good job, a home that is your own, quality education, a secure retirement,
and affordable health care."
"While we have laid the foundation for stronger, more durable
economic growth, there is more work to be done, and that is why over
the coming weeks the President will continue to lay out his plan for
growing the economy from the middle out, and create a better bargain
for the middle class."
His full address reeked of duplicity, saying
"Hi everybody. On Wednesday, I spoke about what we need to do
as a country to build a better bargain for the middle class - to make
sure everyone who works hard has a chance to get ahead in the 21st century
economy."
"You see, over the past four and a half years, America has fought
its way back from the worst recession of our lifetimes. We saved the
auto industry, took on a broken health care system, invested in new
American technologies to reverse our addiction to foreign oil, and changed
a tax code too skewed in favor of the wealthiest at the expense of working
families."
"As a result, our businesses have created 7.2 million new jobs
over the past 40 months. We produce more renewable energy than ever,
and more natural gas than anyone. Health care costs are growing at the
slowest rate in 50 years. Our deficits are falling at the fastest rate
in 60 years."
"Thanks to the grit and resilience of the American people, we’ve
cleared away the rubble of crisis and begun to lay a new foundation
for stronger, more durable economic growth."
"But as any middle-class family will tell you, we’re not yet
where we need to be. Trends that have been eroding middle-class security
for decades - technology that makes some jobs obsolete, global competition
that makes others moveable, growing inequality and the policies that
perpetuate it - all these things still exist, and in some ways, the
recession made them worse."
"Reversing these trends must be Washington's highest priority.
It sure is mine. But over the past couple of years in particular, Washington
has taken its eye off the ball. An endless parade of distractions, political
posturing and phony scandals shift focus from what needs to be done."
"And as Washington prepares to enter another budget debate, the
stakes could not be higher. The choices we make now will determine whether
or not every American has a fighting chance in the 21st century."
"If we don't make the investments necessary to make America a
magnet for good jobs - in education, and manufacturing, and research,
and our transportation and information networks - we might as well hit
the 'pause' button while the rest of the world forges ahead in a global
economy. And that's certainly not going to fix what ails the middle
class."
"Here's what will: a strategy that builds on the cornerstones
of what it means to be middle class in America, and what it takes to
work your way into the middle class. Good jobs that pay good wages.
An education that prepares our children and our workers for the global
competition they’ll face."
"Homeownership that's based on a solid foundation, where buyers
and lenders play by the same set of rules. Affordable health care that’s
there for you when you get sick. A secure retirement even if you’re
not rich. More chances for folks to earn their way into the middle class
as long as they’re willing to work for it."
"Over the next several weeks, in cities and towns across the
country, I'll continue to lay out my ideas in each of these areas. Because
reversing the forces that have conspired against the middle class for
decades will require more than short-term thinking; it will require
a long-term American strategy, based on steady, persistent effort."
"I know there are members of both parties who understand what's
at stake, and I'm open to ideas from across the political spectrum,
as long as they meet the test of strengthening the prospects of hard-working
families."
"But repealing Obamacare, gutting critical investments in our
future, threatening to default on the bills this country has already
racked up, or shutting down the government just because I'm for keeping
it open - none of those thing add up to an economic plan. None of that
will take this country where it needs to go."
"We can do this if we work together. It won't be easy, but if
we take a few bold steps - and if Washington is willing to shake off
its complacency and set aside some of the slash-and-burn partisanship
we’ve seen in recent years - our economy will keep getting stronger."
"And as long as I have the privilege of holding this office,
I will spend every minute of every day doing everything in my power
to make this economy work for working Americans again; to build that
better bargain for the middle class; to make sure that the American
Dream is something that’s achievable for everybody - not just today,
but for decades to come."
"Thanks, and have a great weekend."
Fact check
Obama spurns rule of law principles. He mocks democratic values. He's
no job creator. He's a job destroyer. He supports offshoring high pay/good
benefit ones abroad. Low pay/poor benefit part-time/temp ones replace
them.
He's waging financial war on humanity. He wrecked the economy. He
looted the nation's wealth. He stole it from ordinary Americans. He
handed it to Wall Street, war profiteers, other corporate favorites
and rich elites.
He's thirdworldizing America. Today's wealth gap is deplorable. Privileged
elites want it all. Social inequality's unprecedented in modern times.
Poverty, unemployment, homelessness and hunger approach record levels.
Inequality's institutionalized. Millions struggle to get by.
Neoliberal harshness is policy. Obama's dismissive of growing needs.
He's ideologically over-the-top. His holy trinity is eliminating public
services, crony capitalism writ large, and cracking down hard on nonbelievers.
He's waging war on organized labor. He's commodifying education. He
wants it made another profit center. He targets Muslims, Latinos, African
Americans, environmental activists, animal rights defenders, truth-tellers
and whistleblowers.
He ruthlessly goes after anyone challenging rogue state power. He
menaces humanity. He enforces police state harshness. He champions unfairness.
He masquerades as progressive. He's a scourge in his own time.
According to New York TimesSpeak, he wants "budget austerity"
ended. He wants spending for "infrastructure, education, clean
energy, science, research and other domestic initiatives" replacing
it.
He wants repackaged same old, same old. He's in lockstep with Republicans.
He wants double downed harshness.
He supports trickle down nonsense. He's destroying America's social
fabric. He's doing it to save it, he claims.
He believes corporate tax cuts and handouts work. They stimulate economic
growth, he says. They lift all boats. They benefit most people. False
on all counts.
Economist Kenneth Galbraith calls trickle down economics a sanitized
version of "horse and sparrow" growth.
"If you feed enough oats to the horse," he said, "some
will pass through to feed sparrows."
David Stockman was Reagan's budget director. Crony capitalism triumphed,
he said. His new book is titled "The Great Deformation:
The Corruption of Capitalism in America."
It's a searing critique of current policies. It counters conventional
wisdom. Casino capitalism replaced free enterprise.
Ordinary Americans suffer horrifically. They're swindled. Their welfare
and futures are stolen. Washington conspires against them. It's allied
with business. It's criminal class is bipartisan.
Obama serves wealth, power and privilege. Few benefit at the expense
of most others. It's official policy.
Democrats and Republicans are in lockstep. It's a sinister alliance.
It targets fairness. America's on a slippery slope south. It's heading
for backwater status. It's on a fast track toward dystopian hell.
New World Order harshness is baked in the cake. Things go from bad
to worse. Equity and justice are four-letter words.
Obamanomics sells snake oil. Duplicitous supporters claim otherwise.
Decades of hard won social gains are vanishing.
Millions are on their own sink or swim. Hard times are getting harder.
Demagogic doublespeak can't hide reality.
A Final Comment
Obama's no match for Michael Hudson. He ripped apart his Galesburg, IL economic address. He sounded like
Clinton saying "I feel your pain."
He omitted saying he caused it. "Most great fortunes in history
have been carved out of the public domain," said Hudson. Wall Street's
doing it writ large.
It's "using today's downturn as an opportunity to cloak a vast
new monopoly grab as a 'solution' to the economic problem rather than
looming as a new threat to price American labor and industry out of
global markets."
Obama's in lockstep with its plan. He's "foam(ing) the(ir) runway."
He's furthering America's ownership society. He's doing it at the expense
of most Americans.
Government guarantees returns. Taxpayers cover losses. In other words,
socialism for the rich. Free market capitalism sink or swim for others.
Obama's scamming ordinary Americans. He's a con man. His speech was
"an exercise in political stealth," said Hudson.
"Trust me," he said. Hudson quoted George Burns, Groucho
Marx, and others saying:
"The secret of life is sincerity and fair dealing. If you can
fake that, you've got it made."
Obama's selling snake oil. It's "fairy tale" economics.
He ignored what needs addressing:
"Today's debt deflation and economic shrinkage are pushing federal,
state and local budgets into deficit," said Hudson.
"This is forcing public spending to be cut back proportionally.
That cutting will push state, local and federal budgets even further
into deficit."
"This is why we are hearing calls to start selling off public
infrastructure - to buyers who will become new customers for Wall Street
investment banks."
"It is the same phenomenon we are seeing in Europe. The newest
economic prize is the right to buy rent-extraction rights to turn public
roads into toll roads and similar rentier tollbooth installations."
"All this increases the cost of living and doing business, making
the economy high-cost even as it is being impoverished."
"That is not a solution. It bears out the classic principle that
the solution to every problem tends to create new, even larger problems."
"Often these are unforeseen. But today's problems in the making
are all too foreseeable. What is needed is to keep translating the President's
speeches into their subtext."
Key is exposing, denouncing, and becoming activist against policies
destroying America's social fabric. The alternative's too grim to accept.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War
on Humanity."
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the
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