Go, Barack!
From Ohio:
Mr. Obama said it was unrealistic for all of the lost industrial jobs across the nation to be replaced, saying: "We know that some of these changes are a result of forces we cannot control."
"Revolutions in communication and technology have made it easier for companies to send jobs wherever labor is cheapest, and that’s something that cannot be reversed," Mr. Obama said. "So I’m not going to stand here and say that we can stop every job from going overseas. I don’t believe that we can -- or should -- stop free trade."
We are powerless in the face of these forces?
We cannot control them?
They cannot be reversed?
Why should we vote for you if you believe that you can't fix what's wrong with the labor market in the U.S.?
We are electing a president here. I want someone who powerfully represents the interests of the American worker. Oh, Barack. No. No! Jesus Christ.
It has been well-documented that one of Barack Obama's principal economic advisors is an economist from the Chicago School -- the same folks who brought you the South American economic crises of a few years ago -- with strong anti-worker credentials.
From the same New York Times article linked above, Obama pays some lip service to the problems that Americans are having with their personal finances.
Still, Mr. Obama said the economic downturn of the last eight years and the growing income disparity in America must be reversed. He said the average worker’s wages had gone down by $1,000, factoring in inflation.
"In the meantime, the wealthiest Americans have made out like bandits. That is not a recipe for long-term economic growth," Mr. Obama said. "If you look at how economic growth proceeded in the 50s and 60s, the 70s and the 80s, you had everybody rising — and sometimes falling if there was a recession — more or less on a similar path. We now have greater income inequality than anytime since the Great Depression.
Great.
But we really need a presidential contender who understands that fair trade -- not free trade -- is the answer.
We need a presidential contender that understands that one of the responsibilities of government is to regulate business, markets and trade in the interests of average Americans.
We need a presidential contender that understand that we are not powerless in the face of market forces.
That contender -- by his own words -- is not Barack Obama.