This Is Your Knight in Shining Armor? (Part 6)

Trey Smith

Early on Mr. Obama applied his own unique economic insight to argue that the explosion in unemployment in 2008 – 2009, coincident with the worst economic downturn in modern history, was due to ‘productivity gains,’ (link) and that nothing could be done to help the unemployed. (Even if productivity gains had been behind the decline in employment, which wasn’t the case, Mr. Obama could have revived the nation’s public sphere — teachers, doctors, emergency responders, public works workers, etc. to put people to work, but he chose not to). After passing a tax-cut laden economic stimulus program Mr. Obama appointed the corporate ‘leaders’ responsible for several decades of jobs outsourcing to his ‘jobs’ council. Four years on fully twenty million Americans remain unemployed or underemployed, with no effort to help them in the works.
~ from Meet Barack Obama by Rob Urie ~

Remember the last time America found itself in the throes of an economic depression? A Democrat held the White House then and FDR moved decisively to put the unemployed back to work. The federal government hired people to repair and improve this nation's infrastructure. Not only did FDR's bold plan help pull us out of the Depression of the 1930s, but much of the handiwork of those workers still forms the backbone of today's America.

And what did Obama's meager stimulus lead to? The unemployment meter has hardly moved, but the fat cats on Wall Street are paying themselves egregious bonuses again! In our time of great need, Obama helped out those who didn't need help in the first place!

There is no question that the GOP hasn't been the least bit helpful in putting America back to work, but Obama could have put forth a far more aggressive plan. By "caving in" to Republican threats, he didn't even put up a fight.

Previous parts of this miniseries: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 & Part 5