Obama's Way: Waging Financial War on Humanity
Class war rages in America. Institutionalized inequality defines it. Obama continues what began decades ago. He exceeds the worst of his predecessors. He supports capital's divine right. He transferred unprecedented wealth amounts from ordinary Americans to Wall Street, war profiteers, other corporate favorites and privileged elites. He's ideologically over-the-top. He's no progressive. He's polar opposite. He's not what most people expected. He's not what they deserve. He's pro-business, pro-privilege, pro-super wealth, anti-populist, and anti-government of, by and for everyone equitably. He targets middle America for destruction. He ignores popular needs. He's done so throughout his tenure. He's done it during economic crisis conditions. They're the worst since Great Depression levels. He reflects rogue leadership. He's a scoundrel writ large. He's a moral coward. He's a serial liar. He broke every major promise made. Monied interests own him. Whatever they want they get. It comes at the expense of popular needs. They've gone begging on his watch.
His rhetoric reflects doublespeak duplicity. Demagogic mumbo jumbo defines it. His Knox College Galesburg, IL speech was no exception. It kicked off his planned tour. He's selling same old, same old. Lump of coal harshness defines it. Wealth, power and privilege alone matter. Vital human needs don't count. Unemployment, poverty, homelessness, hunger and overall deprivation are at Depression era levels. Roosevelt prioritized getting people back to work.
Obama's a jobs destroyer. He's uncaring. He doesn't give a damn. He pretends otherwise. Growing millions suffer. They struggle to get by. Austerity makes things harder. It continues. It's prioritized. It's getting worse. Obama's notion of change is double downed harshness. He's in lockstep with Republicans. So are most Democrats. They pretend otherwise. Social injustice defines their agenda. Major domestic spending cuts were made. Much more's planned. Medicare, Social Security, and other vital programs are on the chopping block for elimination.
Institutionalized inequality's deepening. It's happening in plain sight. New York Times editors, contributors and columnists pretend otherwise. They're in lockstep with his policies. On July 24, Times writers Michael Shear and Peter Baker headlined "Obama Focuses on Economy, Vowing to Help Middle Class," saying:
He "tried to move past months of debate over guns, surveillance and scandal on Wednesday and reorient his administration behind a program to lift a middling economy and help middle-class Americans who are stuck with stagnant incomes and shrinking horizons. He lamented that typical Americans had been left behind by globalization, Wall Street irresponsibility and Washington policies, while the richest Americans had accumulated more wealth. He declared it 'my highest priority' to reverse those trends."
He spent four and a half years deepening what began decades earlier. His high-sounding doublespeak rings hollow. Washington took its eye off the ball, he claimed. It "needs to stop," he said.
"This moment does not require short-term thinking. It does not require having the same old stale debates. Our focus has to be on the basic economic issues that matter most to you - the people we represent. (F)ive years after the Great Recession, America has fought its way back," he claimed. Too many Americans are still "left behind."
It's "wrong." It's "bad economics." Obamanomics prioritizes the worst of what persists. He wrecked the economy. He looted the nation's wealth. He handed it to Wall Street, war profiteers and other corporate favorites. He lets popular needs go begging. He ignores what matters most. He plans more of the same. He claims otherwise.
Times editors headlined "The Middle Class at Center Stage," saying:
[Obama needs] "to have a successful final term. [H]e announced on Wednesday, in forceful terms," he's committed. [H]is highest priority for the next 1,276 days [is] rebuilding [the] middle class."
He blames Republicans for his own transgressions. He promised "major investment(s) in rebuilding roads and power grids and school buildings; high-quality preschool for every 4-year-old; a reduction in college costs, a huge barrier between lower-income students and professional success; better incentives for retirement savings. He said it all before. His 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the JOBS Act) doesn't create them. It facilitates hard times. It continues greater fraud. America's race to the bottom continues.
Wall Street celebrated its enactment. Bankers love the bill. They should. They wrote it. They got what they wanted. They got more ways to steal. They take full advantage. They've got lots more grand theft in mind. Obama's their point man. He supports the worst of what demands rejection. Times editors call his agenda sound. It doesn't surprise. They said it for the past four and half years. They did so with Main Street America mired in deep Depression. Perhaps they didn't notice. Obamanomics bears full responsibility. He's waging financial war on humanity. He's done so since day one in office. Why Times editors support what demands rejection they'll have to explain.
America's being thirdworldized. It's on a slippery slope the wrong way. It's waging war on freedom. It confined equity, justice and other democratic values to history's dustbin.
Obama supports capital's divine right. He represents monied interests. He's their point man. He's leading the assault. He claims otherwise. His policies speak louder then words. His so-called recovery enriched America's privileged class. It came at the expense of all others. In modern times, social inequality's greater than ever. His way of rebuilding middle America is destroying it altogether. He's more hardline than many Republicans. He's heartless, uncaring and dangerous. He's ending decades of hard won social gains. They're on the chopping block for elimination.
America's ownership society alone matters. Millions are one major health problem or lost job away from impoverishment, homelessness and despair. Around 100 million working age Americans are jobless. Most others are underemployed. Millions struggle to pay rent, service mortgages, cover medical bills, feed their families, heat homes, and manage other daily expenses. America’s 1% has more wealth than the bottom 95%. Income inequality's greater than in all other developed countries. Over three-fourths of Americans live from paycheck to paycheck.
Neoliberal harshness is policy. Bipartisan complicity force-feeds it. It's institutionalized. Most young people have no futures. An entire generation's lost. America's social contract doesn't matter.
Inequality defines immorality. It's bad economics. America's a potemkin society. It's on a fast track to nowhere. It's been declining for years. Inside the bubble, it's paradise. Outside it's dystopian hell. It's getting worse, not better. Obamanomics works only for America's privileged. Others are on their own sink or swim. Demagogic doublespeak hides reality. Expect hard times to get harder. Obama plans it that way.
A Final Comment
On June 4, 2005, Senator Obama addressed Knox College's commencement, saying:
"The true test of the American ideal is whether we are able to recognize our failings and then rise together to meet the challenges of our time. Whether we allow ourselves to be shaped by events and history, or whether we act to shape them. Whether chance of birth or circumstance decides life's big winners and losers, or whether we build a community where, at the very least, everyone has a chance to work hard, get ahead, and reach their dreams. Like so much of the American story, once again, we face a choice. Once again, there are those who believe that there isn't much we can do about this as a nation. That the best idea is to give everyone one big refund on their government - divvy it up into individual portions, hand it out, and encourage everyone to use their share to go buy their own health care, their own retirement plan, their own child care, education, and so forth. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society. But in our past there has been another term for it - Social Darwinism, every man and woman for him or herself. It's a tempting idea, because it doesn't require much thought or ingenuity. It allows us to say to those whose health care or tuition may rise faster than they can afford - tough luck. It allows us to say to workers who have lost their job - life isn't fair. It let's us say to the child born into poverty - pull yourself up by your bootstraps. But there a problem. It won't work. It ignores our history. [It] creat[ed] a massive middle class, through decent wages and benefits and public schools - that has allowed all of us to prosper."
Perhaps Obama forgot. Maybe it was latter day hollow rhetoric. Maybe it was typical Obama. His American dream assures it for society's privileged. No others. He says one thing. He means another. He does the wrong thing. He claims it's right.
Imagine what he plans ahead. Imagine people on their own sink or swim. Imagine hard times getting harder. It's Obama's way. It's one way. It's no equity and justice way. In modern times, America's more unequal than ever. It's unfit to live in. It's no surprise. It's getting worse. Obama plans it that way. Don't expect him to explain.
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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He has devoted his time and efforts to progressive causes and organizations, all involved in working for a more humane and just world for all people everywhere, but especially for the most needy, disadvantaged and oppressed. His efforts since summer 2005 have included writing on a broad range of vital topics ranging from war and peace; social, economic and political equity for all; and justice for all the oppressed peoples of the world like the long-suffering people of Haiti and the Palestinians. He also co-hosts The Global Research News Hour, gives occasional public talks, and appears frequently on radio and at times television. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization. Also visit his blog and listen to The Lendman News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Monday - Friday at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on world and national issues. All programs are archived for easy listening. His new book "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War" can be ordered HERE. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
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