DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... President Obama Does Little For the Middle Class

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As President Obama travels the country speaking about immigration, student loans, taxes, and the like, increasingly Democratic leaders are lobbying him to tell voters how his agenda strengthens the middle class.


Otherwise Republicans, they fear, will use the IRS and other scandals to distract public attention and stall most of his legislative proposals.

Unfortunately, most of Obama's initiatives may appease liberal elites but don't do much to bolster opportunities for middle class and working families.

His immigration policy comes down to spending record sums to deport undocumented immigrants with criminal records, but letting just about anyone else who manages to get across the border stay and have babies—presumably, who will one day vote Democratic.

If he gets his way in proposed legislation, many undocumented workers will eventually become citizens, and businesses like GE and Apple will be permitted more visas in skill-short areas like engineering, but the border won't be secured. The ranks of semiskilled immigrant workers, who drive down wages in hospitality, construction, manufacturing and other sectors, will continue to swell, frustrating the middle-class aspirations of the working poor born in this country.

His massive expansion of student loans permits universities to jack up tuition, bloat administrative staffs and indulge faculty to teach even less and less effectively. Students are graduating encumbered by massive debt and too few marketable skills. Broke and unemployed, they are not marrying and starting families—that shrinks the middle class.

Despite the availability of loans, skyrocketing tuition mandates ever greater family contributions to finance college. This puts higher education further out of reach for many working class families, and fewer low income children are pursuing post-secondary education than in the past—that shrinks the middle class too.

Organized labor, academics and other progressives jealous of peers in business endlessly obsess about income redistribution and tax rates. The President has jacked up taxes on families earning more than $250,000.

Unfortunately, most businesses in America are either proprietorships or pass through corporations that pay those higher individual, as opposed to corporate, tax rates, raising the cost of investing and expanding businesses—that spells fewer jobs for the middle class and those that aspire to its ranks.

Unable to push through Congress limits on CO2 emissions, President Obama has used executive orders and the EPA to impose limits by fiat. Unfortunately, those raise manufacturing costs, China has no such limits, and all this encourages business to outsource in China—again fewer jobs for the middle class and aspiring middle class.


Free trade agreements that permit trading partners to undervalue their currencies, subsidize exports and artificially under price their products on U.S. store shelves, health care mandates that raise the price of insuring employees instead of controlling costs, unnecessarily cumbersome regulations to run factories, mindless limits on developing U.S. oil reserves, and exporting abundant natural gas to countries that shut out U.S. products with high tariffs all encourage outsourcing, not just in manufacturing but for many supporting services too—yet again, fewer jobs for middle class Americans.

Performance not polemics is the problem. His progressive agenda has accomplished 2.1 percent growth and an anemic job market since the economic recovery began.

In comparable circumstances, Ronald Reagan engineered 5 percent growth and many more middle class jobs by rejecting the failed policies of the left and betting on American's competitive instincts.

Democrats are asking too much of President Obama to explain how his agenda helps the middle class. There's no there, there.


http://www.cnbc.com/id/100784216?__sourc...rememberMe=null

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I'd be shocked if the government did something for anyone other than the elite rich or illegal immigrants or welfare recipients.

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Fixed it for you.

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I'd be shocked if the government did something for anyone other than the elite rich who donate to the campaign

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Fixed it for you.

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Fixed it for you.

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This is why America has challenges in front of it.

The premise of the article is I believe false, and the responses that suggest only that government favors the elite rich and those on welfare are just as false, and just as toxic.

We choose to sit and complain about who is benefiting from the system, who the system is "rigged" for, and create excuses as to why we can't do better, rather than in some small way trying to improve ourselves and helping those who are less fortunate. Or even if we don't care a bit about someone who is less fortunate, recognizing the "we" can be greater than the sum of the "me"s as individuals.

The days of "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" have been lost.

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Just reciting a version of the serenity prayer for our country.

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Obamacare is more of a pro-business boost than a help for the middle class. Of course the business getting a boost is the insurance industry, but it's definitely isn't aimed at helping the middle class.

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How can insurance companies get upset with the idea that people are mandated to buy insurance?

Two reasons come to mind right off the bat, 1. No more pre existing conditions which means everyone, no matter what health they are in, can't be rejected. That's more money going out the door for payouts and 2. Limiting the profit level they are allowed to make. Obamacare has as part of the plan, a minimum percentage of premiums collected have to go back into paying claims thus lessening profits and it also doesn't allow for overhead enough. Not sure of the percentages. Oh and one other reason, the rules aren't completely written yet and the ones that are are changing fast.


That should off-set any loss of not covering pre-existing conditions. Of course the whole industry would collapse in a heap if we were charged honest costs for health care.
The problem is, nobody knows that yet. We don't even know what the plans that will be offered will include nor do we know the costs. Affordable healthcare by who's standards? do you know the answer.

And business owners who are upset would do better and actually be able to provide insurance if we had an "actual" free-market, but we have a ruling class of profit firsters.

Flawed thinking. And what's wrong with profit? if you are going to get into business you need to make an investment in said business, so why shouldn't people maximize profits? do you think it's smart to do it at a loss or for less then they can make?

Having said that, there are indeed examples out there of corporate profiteering at a cost to the very people that work for them. I have a client here in NE Ohio. They moved all manufacturing off shore about 10 years ago Costing over 1800 decent paying Tech and Assembly jobs. . The product they produced in Ohio was considered the Cadillac of the industry. but the product now being made off shore comes to the US with horrible quality issues that now need to be fixed onsite. On paper, it looked like a good deal, in reality, it's turning into a boondoggle. Time will tell if they end up moving back to the states for make the product.

But I'll hear you out, why do you think that you are accurate.. Facts please

Yes the dwindling middle class is the golden goose that's quickly getting cooked.

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How can insurance companies get upset with the idea that people are mandated to buy insurance?

Two reasons come to mind right off the bat, 1. No more pre existing conditions which means everyone, no matter what health they are in, can't be rejected. That's more money going out the door for payouts and 2. Limiting the profit level they are allowed to make. Obamacare has as part of the plan, a minimum percentage of premiums collected have to go back into paying claims thus lessening profits and it also doesn't allow for overhead enough. Not sure of the percentages. Oh and one other reason, the rules aren't completely written yet and the ones that are are changing fast.


That should off-set any loss of not covering pre-existing conditions. Of course the whole industry would collapse in a heap if we were charged honest costs for health care.
The problem is, nobody knows that yet. We don't even know what the plans that will be offered will include nor do we know the costs. Affordable healthcare by who's standards? do you know the answer.

Well with honest due respect I'll accept this rather than what you posted above in which you knew it would cost them the profit they were allowed to make by denying care to people who had been paying into the insurance. Pre-existing did not just apply to those who were trying to buy new insurance.

And business owners who are upset would do better and actually be able to provide insurance if we had an "actual" free-market, but we have a ruling class of profit firsters.

Flawed thinking. And what's wrong with profit? if you are going to get into business you need to make an investment in said business, so why shouldn't people maximize profits? do you think it's smart to do it at a loss or for less then they can make?

Having said that, there are indeed examples out there of corporate profiteering at a cost to the very people that work for them. I have a client here in NE Ohio. They moved all manufacturing off shore about 10 years ago Costing over 1800 decent paying Tech and Assembly jobs. . The product they produced in Ohio was considered the Cadillac of the industry. but the product now being made off shore comes to the US with horrible quality issues that now need to be fixed onsite. On paper, it looked like a good deal, in reality, it's turning into a boondoggle. Time will tell if they end up moving back to the states for make the product.

Well again with honest due respect how can it be flawed thinking on one hand and then you present one example of what I have been talking about.

My point was about a real free market. While we may believe there is a free market here I would present, with as many facts as you have given, the example of all the small businesses and shops driven out of business due to the big box stores, and one factual example in particular which is so obvious that I feel lame just presenting it "Walmart", that undercuts competitors because of their size and ability to accept loss. Of course they have been consistently charged with failing to compensate their employees with fair wage or benefits in spite of the fact that the 2 of the top richest women in the nation are Waltons.

But I'll hear you out, why do you think that you are accurate.. Facts please

Yes the dwindling middle class is the golden goose that's quickly getting cooked.

Yes

And "YES!" again!

While we discuss and debate over gay rights, college loans, insurance, etc. real laws are being written by Big Business and supported by the candidates they pay for, to create an unequal balance in favor of increasing profit and milking the middle class.

There is far less today the middle class can promise their kids than what was promised by a larger middle class when we were kids.

There's increasing dialogue suggesting that todays adults and kids expect the government to take of them when all evidence points to the government taking care of big business.

Obamacare was created by the Heritage Foundation back when Clinton was president. The Heritage Foundation considered it to be the only way to provide healthcare reform back, but now they consider it to be the worst way and the same people who say everybody is sucking off the government are the same ones who think this mind switch about Heritage/Obamcare is "common sense.

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"Otherwise Republicans, they fear, will use the IRS and other scandals to distract public attention and stall most of his legislative proposals."


They fear?

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I just find it amazing that anyone would consider legitimate scandals to be "distractions".

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there are a lot of people in the US who don't know what a good president looks like.

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To be honest, the media would find ways to shred George Washington if he was President today.

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there are a lot of people in the US who don't know what a good president looks like.

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To be honest, the media would find ways to shred George Washington if he was President today.

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Well, he would stand out like a sore thumb in those outfits he wore.

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there are a lot of people in the US who don't know what a good president looks like.

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To be honest, the media would find ways to shred George Washington if he was President today.

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Well, he would stand out like a sore thumb in those outfits he wore.

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there are a lot of people in the US who don't know what a good president looks like.

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To be honest, the media would find ways to shred George Washington if he was President today.

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the dude got himself surrounded with virtually no escape. if it wasn't for finding a few fishing boats and a foggy morning on the Delaware River, then history might not look so kindly on his leadership

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there are a lot of people in the US who don't know what a good president looks like.

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To be honest, the media would find ways to shred George Washington if he was President today.

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the dude got himself surrounded with virtually no escape. if it wasn't for finding a few fishing boats and a foggy morning on the Delaware River, then history might not look so kindly on his leadership

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It really is nothing less than a miracle that we aren't still a British colony today.

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He also had some inept and traitorous Generals around him. (along with some damn good ones as well)

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Overthrew the government? Don't you think we would get into some trouble over that! Maybe be angry but overthrow...can't think of doing that!

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I'm surprised that the current flap with Edward Snowden and the NSA's warrantless wiretaps of US citizens hasn't generated any discussion on here, yet.

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I was going to start threads on all the things I've wanted to talk about while the board was down, but i didn't want to spam the board and then be responsible for crashing the server.