Four Years of Trickle-Down Government Has Buried the Middle Class

October 5, 2012

Four Years of Trickle-Down Government Has Buried the Middle Class

Democrats Spent Nearly a Trillion Dollars on a Failed Stimulus that Ballooned Government, But Jobs Remain Scarce and Working Families are Still Struggling

President Obama’s inability to answer for his trickle-down government policies in Wednesday night’s debate is a sad reminder of how the Democrats’ nearly trillion dollar stimulus has been an utter failure.
The fact is that after four years of failed policies, jobs remains scarce, the middle class is struggling as household incomes are falling and a real economic recovery remains elusive.
While the middle class has lost out big under the Democrats’ trickle-down government policies, Democrats have made sure special interests won big by giving them taxpayer-funded loans and special perks.

President Obama’s inability to answer for his trickle-down government policies in Wednesday night’s debate is a sad reminder of how the Democrats’ nearly trillion dollar stimulus has been an utter failure:

ROMNEY: OBAMA HAS A PHILOSOPHY OF “TRICKLE-DOWN GOVERNMENT”: “The President has a view very similar to the view he had when he ran four years ago, that a bigger government spending more, taxing more, regulating more — if you will, trickle-down government — would work. That’s not the right answer for America. I’ll restore the vitality that gets America working again. Thank you.” (“Remarks by the President and Governor Romney in the First Presidential Debate,” The White House, 10/4/2012)

NYT’S STANLEY FISH: OBAMA COULDN’T RESPOND TO CHARGE OF “TRICKLE DOWN GOVERNMENT”—AND IT STUCK: “Mitt Romney on points, in all areas. The first sign that this was a Romney night came early, when the governor accused President Obama of championing ‘trickle down government,’ Jim Lehrer asked the president to reply, and he didn’t — and the accusation stuck and was repeated later without response.” (Stanley Fish, “Debating Points,” The New York Times, 10/3/2012)

“BIDEN: U.S. MIDDLE CLASS ‘BURIED THE LAST FOUR YEARS’”: (Patricia Zengerle, “Biden: U.S. Middle Class ‘Buried the Last Four Years,’” Reuters, 10/2/2012)

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: FAMILIES “WOULD LOVE IT IF REAL FAMILY MEDIAN INCOME WERE NOT WHERE IT WAS IN 1995”: “They would love it if real family median income were not where it was in 1995. They would love it, to see an America growing again with new jobs again and rising wages again. And they would love to get that tax bill because it would mean that they were moving on up and so were their kids.” (Bill Clinton, Remarks At A Campaign Event, Durham, NH, 10/3/2012)

PRICE TAG FOR FAILED STIMULUS: $833 BILLION: (Congressional Budget Office, 8/23/2012)

BUT THE STIMULUS HAS BEEN A HUGE FAILURE:

368,000 AMERICANS GAVE UP LOOKING FOR WORK IN THE OBAMA ECONOMY LAST MONTH: (Jeff Cox, “New Jobs at 96,000, Missing Expectations; Rate Hits 8.1%,” CNBC, 9/7/2012)

23 MILLION UNEMPLOYED, UNDEREMPLOYED AND DISCOURAGED WORKERS: (“The Employment Situation—August 2012,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, 9/7/2012)

UNEMPLOYMENT ABOVE 8% FOR 43 STRAIGHT MONTHS UNDER OBAMA, MORE THAN 11 PREVIOUS PRESIDENTS COMBINED: (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 9/7/2012)

UNEMPLOYMENT TO “REMAIN ELEVATED FOR ANOTHER FIVE TO SIX YEARS”: “Federal Reserve officials agreed at a meeting in June that unemployment would remain elevated for another five to six years, but most did not regard that as a reason for the Fed to expand its efforts to stimulate growth, according to an official account published Wednesday.” (Binyamin Appelbaum, “Fed is Torn on Tipping Point for Action,” The New York Times, 7/11/2012)

BROKEN PROMISE: WHITE HOUSE HAD PREDICTED UNEMPLOYMENT WOULD BE AT ABOUT 5.6% NOW IF WE PASSED THEIR STIMULUS: (James Pethokoukis, “The Awful, Awful August Jobs Report,” The American Enterprise Institute, 9/7/2012)

LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION AT 63.5%, THE LOWEST LEVEL IN MORE THAN 30 YEARS: (Jeff Cox, “New Jobs at 96,000, Missing Expectations; Rate Hits 8.1%,” CNBC, 9/7/2012)

The fact is that after four years of failed policies, jobs remains scarce, the middle class is struggling as household incomes are falling and a real economic recovery remains elusive:

AP: “ECONOMIC RECOVERY IS THE WEAKEST SINCE WORLD WAR II”: (Paul Wiseman, “Economic Recovery is the Weakest Since World War II,” Associated Press, 8/15/2012)

GDP GROWTH REVISED DOWNWARD TO 1.3%: (Aanalyn Censky, “GDP Report: Economic Growth Revised Lower,” CNN Money, 9/27/2012)

MEDIAN INCOME WAS $55,198 WHEN OBAMA TOOK OFFICE; IT IS $50,678 TODAY: (“Household Income Down 8.2 Percent Since Obama Took Office,” Fox News, 9/26/2012)

U.S. INCOMES FELL MORE AFTER STIMULUS THAN DURING RECESSION: (Jeff Kearn, “U.S. Incomes Fell More in Recovery, Sentier Says,” Bloomberg, 8/23/2012)

REPORT: MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES “STRUGGLING TO ADVANCE” IN OBAMA ECONOMY: (Ronald Brownstein, “Struggling to Advance,” National Journal, 9/28/2012)

75% SAY GETTING AHEAD IS HARDER THAN IT HAS BEEN FOR PREVIOUS GENERATIONS: (Ronald Brownstein, “Struggling to Advance,” National Journal, 9/28/2012)

MEDIAN NET WORTH PLUMMETTED DURING THE RECESSION: “Perhaps the most dramatic figure is that median net worth took a major hit during the recession. It plummeted from $152,950 to $93,150.” (Eyder Peralta, “Pew: Middle Class Poorer, Earning Less and Shrinking,” NPR, 8/22/2012).

“HALF OF HOMEOWNERS UNDER 40 ARE UNDERWATER”: (Ann Carrns, “Half of Homeowners Under 40 are Underwater,” The New York Times, 8/23/2012)

SKY-HIGH POVERTY:

“US POVERTY RATE 15 PERCENT; RECORD NUMBERS PERSIST”: (Hope Yen, “US Poverty Rate 15 Percent; Record Numbers Persist,” Associated Press, 9/12/2012)

46.2 MILLION PEOPLE BELOW THE POVERTY LINE IN 2011, “THE HIGHEST IN MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY”: (Hope Yen, “US Poverty Rate 15 Percent; Record Numbers Persist,” Associated Press, 9/12/2012)

PEW: “A RECOVERY NO BETTER THAN THE RECCESION”: (Rakesh Kochar, “A Recovery No Better Than the Recession,” Pew Research Center, 9/12/2012)

“US POVERTY ON TRACK TO RISE TO HIGHEST SINCE 1960s”: (Hope Yen, “US Poverty on Track to Rise to Highest Since 1960s,” Associated Press, 7/23/2012)

“US CHILDREN, FAMILIES STRUGGLING AFTER RECESSION”:(Susan Heavey, “US Children, Families Struggling After Recession,” Reuters, 7/25/2012)

46.7 MILLION AMERICANS ON FOOD STAMPS, UP FROM 32 MILLION IN JAN. 2009 WHEN OBAMA TOOK OFFICE: (“Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” U.S. Department of Agriculture, 8/30/2012)

While the middle class has lost out big under the Democrats’ trickle-down government policies, Democrats have made sure special interests won big by giving them taxpayer-funded loans and special perks:

TAXPAYERS UNLIKELY TO RECEIVE THE $528 MILLION OWED TO THEM BY NOW-BANKRUPT SOLYNDRA: (Jim McElhatton, “Solyndra Investors Could Reap Tax Windfall,” The Washington Times, 8/29/2012)

OBAMA’S DOE LENT $14.5 BILLION OVER 27 PROJECTS, “TURNED A BLIND EYE TO THE RISKS THAT HAVE BEEN GLARINGLY APPARENT”: “By the expiration of § 1705 program in September 2011, the DOE had approved 27 projects totaling more than $14.5 billion in guaranteed loans. Inexplicably, DOE management has turned a blind eye to the risks that have been glaringly apparent since the inception of the program.” (“The Department of Energy’s Disastrous Management of Loan Guarantee Program,” U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 3/20/2012)

“REPORT: ENERGY LOANS COULD COST $3B” FROM “HIGH-RISK” GREEN PROGRAMS:(“Report: Energy Loans Could Cost $3B,” Associated Press, 2/10/2012)

STIMULUS CRONY CAPITALISM? WASHINGTON POST AUDIT FOUND $3.9 BILLION IN TAXPAYER MONEY WENT TO “21 COMPANIES WITH CONNECTIONS TO FIVE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION STAFFERS AND ADVISERS”: “During the next three years, the department provided $2.4 billion in public funding to clean-energy companies in which Wagle’s former firm, Vantage Point Venture Partners, had invested, a Washington Post analysis found. Overall, the Post found that $3.9 billion in federal grants and financing flowed to 21 companies backed by firms with connections to five Obama administration staffers and advisers.” (Carol Leonnig and Joe Stephens, “Venture Capitalists Play Key Role in Obama’s Energy Department,” The Washington Post, 2/14/2012)

SOLYNDRA INVESTORS STILL REAPING WINDFALL: WILL BE ABLE TO USE SOLYNDRA LOSSES TO AVOID TAXES ON FUTURE INCOME COMPLETELY UNRELATED TO THEIR FAILED SOLYNDRA INVESTMENTS: “It will, however, hold ‘tax attributes’ consisting of more than one-half billion dollars in net operating losses,” the government filing states. “The equity holders … may then, assuming they meet the other requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, use those net operating losses to reduce their income tax liabilities on income earned from other sources completely unrelated to Solyndra.” (Jim McElhatton, “Solyndra Investors Could Reap Tax Windfall,” The Washington Times, 8/29/2012)

SPECIAL DEAL ALLOWED INVESTORS TO BE PAID BACK BEFORE TAXPAYERS IN CASE OF DEFAULT: (Jim McElhatton, “Solyndra Investors Could Reap Tax Windfall,” The Washington Times, 8/29/2012)

FLASHBACK: SOLYNDRA INVESTOR: “WHILE THAT’S GOOD FOR US, I CAN’T IMAGINE IT’S A GOOD WAY FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO USE TAXPAYER MONEY”: “But privately, at least one investor was concerned, writing in an email that while Solyndra won a loan of more than $500 million, it had revenues of less than $100 million and wasn’t yet profitable: ‘… while that’s good for us, I can’t imagine it’s a good way for the government to use taxpayer money…’” (Jim McElhatton, “Emails: Solyndra Took Sales Pitch Directly to Obama,” The Washington Times, 8/2/2012)

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