Only 28 percent of respondents to a recent Harris Poll say they plan to watch the State of the Union address. Some of those are lying. Its clear the Obama charm has worn extremely thin. The rapturous excitement President Barack Obama once elicited was based, at least in part, on the idea that he had something new to offer, that he transcended the old politics. Its not enough to say that those expectations were misplaced — that was obvious from the beginning. But he has proved to be one of the most polarizing leaders of the modern era, encouraging a corrosive sense of grievance between Americans and undermining peoples faith in the essential justness of their country. Tonight, we are told, the president will once again mount his horse and fix his lance at the scourge of income inequality and declining upward mobility in an attempt to convince voters struggling with the Obama economy that the wealthy are to blame for their problems. Its the leftist mantra, and Obama never tires of it. He hasnt read Adam Smith. He doesnt know that one mans prosperity is not the cause of another mans poverty. Its awkward for Obama, so he probably wont mention it, but income inequality has increased since he assumed office. And while hes waxing indignant about declining upward mobility, he probably wont acknowledge that thanks to the strength of the U.S. economy before he got his hands on it, economic mobility has improved in recent decades as incomes have risen. Median family income (adjusted for inflation) is 12 percent higher today than it was in 1980. People have more disposable income than their parents did at the same stage of life. Though he has referred approvingly to the work of Emmanuel Saez in the past, the president will probably avoid the economists most recent study, Where is the Land of Opportunity? because Saez concludes that the chief obstacle to upward mobility is not the one percent but family structure. Even children in intact families suffer when they grow up in communities with large percentages of single-parent families.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 00:44:29 +0000
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