Are you better off than you were eight years ago?
Barack Obama thinks so.
His parting message to America doesn’t square with reality.
“Incomes are rising, poverty is declining, we are in economic ‘recovery’ and we are a stronger, more respected country than we were eight years ago”.
I can’t speak for you, but my reality is quite different than the assessment given by our soon-departing President. Don’t misunderstand my report. I am secure, financially solvent and incredibly blessed. I am thankful to live in this still-great country. BUT, like millions of other Americans, Obama is NOT leaving me in better condition than he found me.
Thanks to the Obama Administration (with the aid and inaction of Republicans) millions of Americans lost Trillions of dollars in wealth, estates and financial resources in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mack disaster. My wife and I were among them. We saw much of what we had worked for during our lifetime literally disappear overnight. Our income has certainly not risen. The “recovery” Obama continues to describe simply does not match the reality of millions of Americans who will never see recovery from their financial reversals during the Obama Administration.
The Dodd-Frank Act has left small businesses and family enterprises without access to capital. That put them in a downward spiral which caused many of them to close their doors. Many who have survived cancelled plans to expand and create additional jobs which could have actually stimulated the economy.
The suggestion that we are stronger ignores the fact that our military has been significantly weakened, we are twenty Trillion dollars in debt and financial growth is on life support.
World leaders certainly have a much different perspective on how “respected” America is today compared to eight years ago. One would have to be completely isolated from world news and reality to believe America has become more respected during the Obama years.
His last minute executive orders and Foreign policy blunders seem specifically designed to further damage America and her allies.
Now, Obama assures us that “as a private citizen”, he will continue to “stand with us” to ensure our continued success. All I can say is “No, thank you. I’ll get along somehow without you.”
My only hope for the Obama years is that, like the year 2016, he will soon be gone.
Goodbye Mr. President.
***Gordon Howie is an author and CEO of Life and Liberty Media***
“It’s not about right or left, it’s about Right or Wrong.”
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To hear prominent Democrats defending the Dodd-Frank Act and how critical it is for consumer protection is like having someone defend a gaping hole in a boat and how much it has helped keep the boat from sinking. It is NOT, as proponents would like us to believe, Wall Street that has been hurt by Dodd-Frank. Wall Street and big banks are doing just fine and have the financial ability to add more personnel to the roster to meet regulations, simply passing those expenses on to the consumer. Wall Street also has the ability to pay huge “speaking fees”, hire expensive lobbyists, and contribute heartily to political campaigns. The attacks on Wall Street by Democrats supporting Dodd-Frank allow them political cover while continuing to reap the benefits of a corrupt system. As Hillary has said, you have to have both a public and a private position. We hear the public position, decrying that none of the big bankers have gone to jail. The reason that none of the big bankers have gone to jail is because they have had too much political protection from both sides of the isle.
What has been severely impacted by the Dodd-Frank Act is Main Street, populated by businesses too small to elicit the political favoritism that comes with big money. By hamstringing small banks with regulations and thereby denying capital to small businesses, the small business economy has been devastated. Half of the small banks have been forced out of existence. We personally survived the income-to-expense ratios now mandated to continue EXISTING loans, but we survived it only by going from twelve employees to three and simply stopping every expense that was not essential. I have yet to understand why forcing investors to take actions such as our has had any positive benefit on the economy.