2 posts tagged “economy”

Barack Obama is being double-teamed by his rivals, Hillary Clinton and John McCain, for comments that he made recently about the economy, and the despair and political alienation felt by so many Americans.  The argument being made apparently is that he lacks sympathy with "ordinary folk," that he is "elitist."

Just to balance this a bit, I am attaching below a section of Obama's major address on the state of the economy and the state, too, of working people and the middle class.

There is no question in my mind that he, as a former neighborhood organizer, and a rather poorly-paid one at that, is both a lot more sincere in his convictions and a lot more closely associated with the difficulties of people who have been facing hard times than certainly the Clintons, who have been living the good life for quite a while now, and certainly McCain, who has been a Senator since 1987, and reportedly owns eight houses.

Here is part of what Obama said a couple weeks ago:

We have to make government responsive once again to all of the American people.

And our final task, in fact, is to make sure that opportunity is available to all Americans.

You know, the bedrock of our economic success is the American dream. It's a dream shared in big cities and small towns, across races, regions and religions, that, if you work hard, you can support a family; that if you get sick, there will be health care that you can afford; that you can retire...

(APPLAUSE)

... that you can retire with the dignity and security and respect that you've earned; and that your children can get a good education and young people can go to college, even if they don't come from a wealthy family.

That's our common hope.

(APPLAUSE)

That's our common hope across this country. That's the essence of the American dream.

But today, for far too many Americans, this dream is slipping away.

Wall Street has been recently gripped by gloom over our economic situation. But for many Americans, the economy has effectively been in recession for the past seven years.

We have just come through...

(APPLAUSE)

We have just come through the first sustained period of economic growth since World War II that was not accompanied by a growth in incomes for typical families.

Americans are working harder for less.

OBAMA: Costs are rising, and it's not clear that we'll leave a legacy of opportunity to our children and our grandchildren.

And that's why throughout this campaign I've put forward a series of proposals that will foster economic growth from the bottom up and not just from the top down.

And that's why the last time I spoke on the economy here in New York, I talked about the need to put the policies of George W. Bush behind us, policies that have essentially said...

(APPLAUSE)

... policies that have essentially said to the American people, "You are on your own."

We need policies that once again recognize that we are in this together.

Everybody who is getting presents from me this year is getting mostly items that are "used."  Things I have had around the house for a while.