http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/blogs/obama-gains-our-economy-go-folks-who-are-lovely-yard_810900.htmlObama: 'Gains in Our Economy Go to the Folks Who Are in This Lovely Yard'
Daniel Halper
October 10, 2014 7:01 AM
At a Hollywood fundraiser last night in Gwyneth Paltrow's backyard, President Obama explained that the rich are getting richer. "Most of the gains in our economy go to the folks who are in this lovely yard," Obama said.
By contrast, the president explained that income and wages have been stagnant for "the average person."
"The bottom line is, is that there is almost no economic measure by which we’re not better off than we were when I came into office," Obama said to applause. "And that’s a fact. That’s not -- and for those who think that I’m a wild socialist -- (laughter) -- it turns out that actually the stock market has been doing pretty fine, 401(k)s have recovered, and corporate balance sheets have never been stronger. So it’s been good for business."
The president continued, "And yet, people remain anxious about the future, and the question is why. If we’ve made all this progress, why is it that there’s this anxiety among ordinary folks all across the country? And there’s a simple reason for it. It’s that despite everything that we’ve done to recover the economy, to restructure energy, to reform our education system, to start fixing a broken health care system, wages and incomes have not gone up for the average person; they’ve continued to flat-line. And that’s a trend that preceded me. That’s something that has been going on now for about 20 years -- in part because of globalization, in part because of technology, but also because of some misguided policies. Most of the gains in our economy go to the folks who are in this lovely yard. And the average person has not seen their wages or incomes go up in the last 20 years.
"And as a consequence, even though the economy has improved, folks are still uncertain as to whether if you work hard in this country, can you still get ahead -- and more importantly, can my kid get ahead; can my grandchild live out the American Dream. And everything I have done to this point, and everything that I want to do over the next two years, is based on the simple proposition that here in America, it doesn’t matter what you look like, where you come from, what faith you belong to, where you started, who you love -- if you are willing to work hard and take responsibility, then you should be able to make it here, in America. That’s the essence of who we are."The audience applauded.
