Economy healed under Obama, but unhappy voters chose Trump

[webfact]

Economy healed under Obama, but unhappy voters chose Trump

By JOSH BOAK

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — He was a first-term senator-turned-president, a former law professor with little experience in economics or management. When he entered the White House he had one essential task: piece together the shards of a shattered U.S. economy.

 

It wasn't smooth and it wasn't fast. But President Barack Obama will leave behind, by most measures, an economy far stronger than the one he inherited. Unemployment is 4.6 percent, a nine-year low. Stocks keep setting highs. An additional 20 million Americans have health insurance coverage. The nation has shifted toward cleaner energy sources: natural gas, wind and solar.

 

Yet it's also an economy that left many people feeling neglected. Polling after the November election found that nearly two-thirds of voters described the economy as "not so good" or "poor."

 

The costs of housing, college and prescription drugs kept outpacing paychecks. Job options had been dwindling for workers with only high school diplomas even before Obama took office, but the downturn and slow recovery magnified the pain of that trend. Many people gave up looking for work. Struggling rural towns never enjoyed the uplift that benefited major cities.

 

Fueled in part by such challenges, voters chose to pass the presidency to Donald Trump, a Republican who had railed against a weak economy and promised to undo many of Obama's policies.

 

The gap between the economy's overall health and Americans' lingering anxieties cuts to the heart of Obama's legacy. The president and his team took historic actions to pull the economy back from the brink. But those very steps failed to help swaths of America and turned many people against his policies, setting the stage for Trump's nationalist platform.

 

"We saved the economy from a failing financial system, though we lost the country doing it," Obama's first treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, concluded in his 2014 memoirs.

___

Economic problems that had been simmering for decades started to boil with the Great Recession of 2007-2009. It suddenly became Obama's responsibility to address problems that were both immediate and generations in the making.

 

Building on measures taken by George W. Bush's administration, Obama pumped $412 billion into teetering banks, troubled financial firms and the struggling automakers General Motors and Chrysler. The infusion was stigmatized for being a government bailout, though the money was ultimately repaid.

 

Then there was the Recovery Act, known as the "stimulus," enacted less than a month after Obama took the oath of office in 2009. Administration estimates initially suggested that the $836 billion stimulus — a mix of tax cuts, public investments and direct aid — would prevent unemployment from rising above 8 percent.

 

Those projections were faulty, based on economic figures that were later downgraded. The 8 percent unemployment projection ultimately became a political albatross as the rate peaked at 10 percent that October — proof to some Republicans that the stimulus had failed.

 

But there's little doubt the bill made an impact. The U.S. recovery was, and continues to be, stronger than in economies in Europe and Japan. Administration officials note that until the full force of the stimulus arrived, key U.S. economic measures were on the same trajectory as in the Great Depression.

 

Even more polarizing was the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a major extension of the federal social safety net. It expanded Medicaid while imposing new regulations designed to support the middle class that allowed young adults to stay on parents' plans and created marketplaces for purchasing health insurance.

 

Just 8.9 percent of Americans now lack health insurance — a historic low, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. But critics complain that Obama's health care law brought bureaucratic headaches and burdensome costs. The average premium for plans under the health care law next year jumped 22 percent, an increase that will be offset somewhat by federal subsidies.

 

The combination of all these acts fueled a conservative backlash that would propel dozens of Republicans into Congress, costing Democrats control of the House in 2010 and bringing Obama's economic agenda to a halt.

 

The following years would be defined by deficit battles, budget cuts, standoffs over the debt and a compromise on tax cuts. The Obama team's efforts to boost growth through additional infrastructure spending and immigration reform were quashed by House Republicans.

 

Throughout it all, while Americans became disillusioned by the bickering in Washington, Obama's economy slowly crept back.

__

Yet the recovery remains uneven, so much so that Obama never took a full victory lap. The president has routinely followed his remarks about the healing economy with the caveat that more progress was needed.

 

"Historians will remember President Obama for his rational, evidence-based approach," said Alan Krueger, a former economic adviser, "as opposed to the emotional, visceral style of the two presidents who will bookend his time in office."

 

"A lesser president," Krueger added, would have "upended our economic system for short-term political gain."

 

Obama often spoke with restraint and governed through policy, rather than whipping up public outrage against firms linked to the financial crisis. His administration preserved private contracts, even though those contracts rewarded huge bonuses to some of the bankers the government helped rescue.

__

While voters returned Obama to the White House in 2012, there was a nagging sense of a system rigged against them — a frustration that Trump tapped effectively.

 

The Republican businessman barnstormed through rural white America, talking at a gut level to supporters whose communities felt left behind by the recovery. He promises to return manufacturing and mining jobs that most economists believe are long lost.

 

Trump challenged the accuracy of the unemployment rate, since many Americans gave up searching for jobs and were no longer counted as unemployed. He has promised major spending on infrastructure and tax cuts. He says he plans to eliminate regulations and repeal and replace Obama's health care law.

 

"Trump's victory is very harmful to his legacy — Obama understood that," said Stephen Moore, a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation who advised the Trump campaign. "It's why he campaigned so hard for Hillary Clinton."

 

The White House acknowledges the disconnect between the economy's health and the public's beliefs about what the president achieved. But Jason Furman, chairman of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, contended that voter pessimism about the economy is mostly about politics.

 

He noted that consumer spending has helped support economic growth, a sign that Americans "are not behaving in a way that is consistent with massive amounts of anxiety about the future and uncertainty about whether they'll keep their jobs."

 

"People have a big political prism that they use in interpreting economic information," Furman said.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-12-22

[mfd101]

Voters are never grateful for what you did for them yesterday. They want to know what you're going to do for them tomorrow.

[Johpa]

Geithner, a former Bangkok kid, is at the heart of the failure of Obama as he did save Wall Street but did nothing for "Main Street". There were alternative paths, far more bolder paths, to stabilizing the economy, but Geithner took the path of least resistance and the path most profitable to he and his peers. The pain was foisted upon the lower classes and they have now spoken in their discordant voice and given us Trump d'III.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[Wanderer555]

"The White House acknowledges the disconnect between the economy's health and the public's beliefs about what the president achieved. "

 

The writer is obviously providing a very narrow and biased report on the state of the US economy, and why a significant portion of the US electorate voted for Trump.

 

The article completely fails to address the issues of wage stagnation, ( for many, the hourly scale is  the same or less than 30 years ago) , and many people having to work two or more part-time jobs due to ObamaCare policies.

 

Additionally, the many formally good jobs such as the 'Trades' are now going to illegal aliens, (at lower wages) with the low paying service sector jobs now the most abundant (hence one reason for the improved unemployment numbers), and then add in the rising costs of housing, education, food and more, and you have a recipe for great unrest.

 

Even the bright spot of 'Tech' is in trouble with many jobs being outsourced overseas or given to H1B foreign workers.

 

All combined, these factors create a situation where many in the middle class are being pushed in low income brackets with increased anxiety about the future.

 

Also not addressed in the article is the almost $20 trillion national debt, that has essentially doubled during the Obama administration. Think 'Time-Bomb' for the future...

 

Many of the above started to occur long before Obama, but little has been done to slow the decline of the middle class and much done to further entrapment them into debt-based economy.

 

This is not the same country I grew up in...

Edited December 22, 2016 by Wanderer555

[Andaman Al]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

but unhappy voters chose Trump

 

I think they will now remain unhappy for the foreseeable future, perhaps even very unhappy. You reap what you sow!

[Ulysses G.]

The economy is better than it was at the lowest point in decades. Big deal!

[Andaman Al]

1 minute ago, Wanderer555 said:

Even the bright spot of 'Tech' is in trouble with many jobs being outsourced overseas or given to H1B foreign workers.

 

That is because the US education system can no longer churn out the right calibre people to take on the roles in top tech companies. The H1B's are doing it, getting all the expertise and then going home. In terms of tech the US will be unable to function without H1B's in the very near future.

 

 

[Andaman Al]

5 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

The economy is better than it was at the lowest point in decades. Big deal!

 

Do you read with special glasses on that make words completely negative if they are associated with a Democrat or Obama?

 

 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

But President Barack Obama will leave behind, by most measures, an economy far stronger than the one he inherited.

 

Cool! It's a big deal.

[Ulysses G.]

4 minutes ago, Andaman Al said:

 

Do you read with special glasses on that make words completely negative if they are associated with a Democrat or Obama.

 

I do not need special glasses to see the obvious.

[ThaiWest]

42 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

Voters are never grateful for what you did for them yesterday. They want to know what you're going to do for them tomorrow.

 

Hum... Not really, true VOTERS just vote you OUT! Just as has happened! If after 8 frigging years a POTUS cannot or does not 'take care of the US' it's time for THAT party to depart! Folks, that is just what the American citizens have done with their votes... believe it! Get over it! Accept it! Move forward... The "VOTERS" are most 'grateful' to have the VOTE and RIGHT to have moved FORWARD. ONLY the ones who wanted to remain in the FAILING government are now creating a 'show' for ... THEMSELVES!  Unfortunately, the "news' media who have chosen to line up with them, are publishing AND pushing the STORY LINES in an attempt (which WILL FAIL) to support the cry-babies... Oh... So sad...for them... For they most certainly will be the losers in the end...

[ThaiWest]

Keep dreaming... But... remember they are Obama's dreams... 

[lannarebirth]

1 hour ago, Andaman Al said:

 

That is because the US education system can no longer churn out the right calibre people to take on the roles in top tech companies. The H1B's are doing it, getting all the expertise and then going home. In terms of tech the US will be unable to function without H1B's in the very near future.

 

 

Many of the H1B's are educated in the US, so your argument is contradictory. They are hired from the same graduating classes as Americans but have no status to remain after their education is over. Maybe the answer lies in reserving fewer spots in schools for foreign students. But the universities would have to get off their addiction to triple tuition rates.

[mike324]

2 hours ago, Andaman Al said:

 

Do you read with special glasses on that make words completely negative if they are associated with a Democrat or Obama?

 

Cool! It's a big deal.

 

He has not had anything positive thing to say about Obama, even though its a positive news. Yet if its about Trump, its a big deal and he is willing to give him a chance even with mistakes he made.

[deathmule]

How exactly did the economy heal? Obama took over at 10.6 trillions of debt and exploded it to almost 20 (19.7 at the moment) in 8 years.

 

Jobs? Most jobs created are part time that are not necessarily let you live comfortable. This is what you call jobs?

 

 

 

 

 

[Ulysses G.]

22 minutes ago, mike324 said:

 

He has not had anything positive thing to say about Obama, even though its a positive news. Yet if its about Trump, its a big deal and he is willing to give him a chance even with mistakes he made.

 

Malarkey. Obama just does very little that I agree with.

The last thing he did that I thought was a good idea was vetoing the bill that would have allowed American families to sue Iran. I thought it would open up a can of worms that would hurt the USA and I said so.

Edited December 22, 2016 by Ulysses G.

[Scott]

A post has been removed and reply.   Please don't post in bold.   This is the rule from the forum netiquette:

 

Forum Netiquette
 
1. Please do not post in all capital letters, bold, unusual fonts, sizes or colors. It can be difficult to read.
 

[mike324]

10 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

 

Malarkey. Obama just does very little that agree with.

The last thing he did that I thought was a good idea was vetoing the bill that would have allowed American families to sue Iran. I thought it would open up a can of worms that would hurt the USA and I said so.

 

All the positive numbers under Obamas administration must be a lie then? 

[ThaiWest]

4 minutes ago, Scott said:

A post has been removed and reply.   Please don't post in bold.   This is the rule from the forum netiquette:

 

Forum Netiquette
 
1. Please do not post in all capital letters, bold, unusual fonts, sizes or colors. It can be difficult to read.
 

 

Hum, Why is there an option to bold face text then? Just trying to understand, not arguing with you...

[mike324]

1 hour ago, lannarebirth said:

 

Many of the H1B's are educated in the US, so your argument is contradictory. They are hired from the same graduating classes as Americans but have no status to remain after their education is over. Maybe the answer lies in reserving fewer spots in schools for foreign students. But the universities would have to get off their addiction to triple tuition rates.

 

Intentional Students can work in the US for 1 year under their student visa after graduation. After that, if the employer wants to keep them, they can apply from H1B which is valid for 3 years and can be extended up to 6. So your claim that they have no status after education is over is incorrect. 

[Scott]

5 minutes ago, ThaiWest said:

 

Hum, Why is there an option to bold face text then? Just trying to understand, not arguing with you...

There are occasions when it might be used, such as to separate what one person has posted and your reply.   It's also simply a part of the software with the program.  

 

Now back to the topic.   If you have further questions, please use the PM function.   It's not really a good idea to discuss these matters in a thread.  

[tifino]

Bold, just like Italics,  and all have their place in Typography - for providing an emphasis on some points, and is designed for use sparingly

 

Emphasis can also be provided by utilising lightface characters

 

 

It's all very well what Typography is all about

- however,  it comes to nothing if your variation of the application of text Fonts is used all over the place

- as the very emphasis you were after, will be lost in the trees, and distracting...

Edited December 22, 2016 by tifino

[Ulysses G.]

5 minutes ago, mike324 said:

 

All the positive numbers under Obamas administration must be a lie then? 

 

Much of it is spin and there are plenty of negative numbers. 19 Trillion in debt for example and a  VERY low labor participation rate.

[lannarebirth]

2 minutes ago, mike324 said:

 

Intentional Students can work in the US for 1 year under their student visa after graduation. After that, if the employer wants to keep them, they can apply from H1B which is valid for 3 years and can be extended up to 6. So your claim that they have no status after education is over is incorrect. 

 

Yes, you can apply for an OPT for a year, but I was speaking about a permanent status. Perhaps I could have been clearer.

[deathmule]

Just giving a source on low labor participation

 

http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2016/jun/13/dave-brat/dave-brat-us-labor-participation-rate-lowest-70s/

 

Quote

"The labor force participation rate - the share of the potential workforce that is actually working or looking for work - currently stands below 63%, the lowest level since the 1970s,"

 

Quote

"Those that cite a deteriorating economy believe more workers are becoming discouraged and leaving the labor force altogether due to lack of opportunity, low wages, etc.," Culbertson wrote in an email.

 

[ilostmypassword]

2 hours ago, Wanderer555 said:

"The White House acknowledges the disconnect between the economy's health and the public's beliefs about what the president achieved. "

 

The writer is obviously providing a very narrow and biased report on the state of the US economy, and why a significant portion of the US electorate voted for Trump.

 

The article completely fails to address the issues of wage stagnation, ( for many, the hourly scale is  the same or less than 30 years ago) , and many people having to work two or more part-time jobs due to ObamaCare policies.

 

Additionally, the many formally good jobs such as the 'Trades' are now going to illegal aliens, (at lower wages) with the low paying service sector jobs now the most abundant (hence one reason for the improved unemployment numbers), and then add in the rising costs of housing, education, food and more, and you have a recipe for great unrest.

 

Even the bright spot of 'Tech' is in trouble with many jobs being outsourced overseas or given to H1B foreign workers.

 

All combined, these factors create a situation where many in the middle class are being pushed in low income brackets with increased anxiety about the future.

 

Also not addressed in the article is the almost $20 trillion national debt, that has essentially doubled during the Obama administration. Think 'Time-Bomb' for the future...

 

Many of the above started to occur long before Obama, but little has been done to slow the decline of the middle class and much done to further entrapment them into debt-based economy.

 

This is not the same country I grew up in...

Blaming Obama for the growth in debt is a case of willful blindness.  The USA came perilously close to falling into a great depression. Obama's fault was not that his stimulus program was too much but that it was too little. It barely kept the USA from falling into a depression. And of course, once the Republicans took over and stopped the stimulus, the economy just limped along. The EU tried austerity and it failed miserably. You should look up something called the "multiplier effect."

And of course the hypocrisy of the Republicans is enormous. Now that the country is clear of the recession, they in effect want to massively increase the national debt by slashing taxes and increasing expenditures. 

And actually, in the past few years, the people at the lower end of the wage spectrum were gaining faster than the people at the upper hand. The rich were getting a little poorer and the poor a little richer.  

And as for wages getting lower, think destruction of unions by the right wing.  Workers don't have much of a chance without being united against bosses. People talk of manufacturing jobs returning to the USA and bringing with them good paying jobs. Why would these jobs necessarily pay well?  Do you think that would happen out of the goodness of the owners' hearts? And the prospective Supreme Court justices that Trump favors are all approved of by the anti-union Federalist Society.  You know, the corporations-are-people-who-you-can't-put-in-jail crowd. The people who think the wealthy should be allowed to spend unlimited amounts of cash to support political candidates. In other words, the swamp-enlargers.

[mike324]

26 minutes ago, deathmule said:

How exactly did the economy heal? Obama took over at 10.6 trillions of debt and exploded it to almost 20 (19.7 at the moment) in 8 years.

 

Jobs? Most jobs created are part time that are not necessarily let you live comfortable. This is what you call jobs?

 

 

 

It has to do with halting the 2008 financial crisis, which was not created by Obama.

https://www.thebalance.com/2008-financial-crisis-3305679

 

 

[mike324]

7 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

 

Much of it is spin and there are plenty of negative numbers. 19 Trillion in debt for example and a  VERY low labor participation rate.

 

If you actually find out why debt increase so much, you would know its not Obama's fault. It was to save the US.

[ilostmypassword]

7 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

 

Much of it is spin and there are plenty of negative numbers. 19 Trillion in debt for example and a  VERY low labor participation rate.

Had you bothered to look it up you would have found that the labor participation rate has been declining well before Obama took office.  And once the great recession hit, do you really think it was going to reverse that trend?

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/labor-force-participation-rate-decline-is-mostly-structural-feds-fischer-says-2016-09-27

[mike324]

5 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

Blaming Obama for the growth in debt is a case of willful blindness.  The USA came perilously close to falling into a great depression. Obama's fault was not that his stimulus program was too much but that it was too little. It barely kept the USA from falling into a depression. And of course, once the Republicans took over and stopped the stimulus, the economy just limped along. The EU tried austerity and it failed miserably. You should look up something called the "multiplier effect."

And of course the hypocrisy of the Republicans is enormous. Now that the country is clear of the recession, they in effect want to massively increase the national debt by slashing taxes and increasing expenditures. 

And actually, in the past few years, the people at the lower end of the wage spectrum were gaining faster than the people at the upper hand. The rich were getting a little poorer and the poor a little richer.  

And as for wages getting lower, think destruction of unions by the right wing.  Workers don't have much of a chance without being united against bosses. People talk of manufacturing jobs returning to the USA and bringing with them good paying jobs. Why would these jobs necessarily pay well?  Do you think that would happen out of the goodness of the owners' hearts? And the prospective Supreme Court justices that Trump favors are all approved of by the anti-union Federalist Society.  You know, the corporations-are-people-who-you-can't-put-in-jail crowd. The people who think the wealthy should be allowed to spend unlimited amounts of cash to support political candidates. In other words, the swamp-enlargers.

 

amazing those blaming Obama doesn't even know why debt increase, they shouldn't even be commenting.... amazing how misinformed they are

[ilostmypassword]

9 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

 

Much of it is spin and there are plenty of negative numbers. 19 Trillion in debt for example and a  VERY low labor participation rate.

This is the kind of comment that comes from someone who can't be bothered to acquaint himself with the facts. Just empty generalities. As for the debt, gee, did you hear about the huge recession that Obama inherited? Maybe you missed it because you were getting yourself a snack during the commerical break?