Obama's tax plan an assault on economic growth cloaked in populist demagoguery

The tax plan President Obama unveiled during his State of the Union is an assault on economic growth cloaked in populist demagoguery. It will not help middle class Americans but rather guarantee that their incomes remain stagnant. He wants to divert attention from the fact that his policies of higher taxes, blow-out spending, anti-growth regulations and the costly, chaotic government-created disruption of ObamaCare have caused median incomes to stay below what they were back in 2007.

Most Americans are deeply worried that their expenses are rising faster than their incomes.While the economy is showing more signs of life lately, it is far behind what it should be at this stage of an expansion. And this uptick is jeopardized by troubled economies around the world. Rather than us lifting them up--we are not strong enough to do that--they are more likely to drag us down. Germany is stagnant and the rest of Europe is in recession. So is Japan, the world's third largest economy. Mexico and Brazil are as well. China is slowing, as is neighboring Canada, our largest trading partner. Russia is a basket case

Obama’s tax plan, indeed whole state of the union, was just a play to what remains of his core supporters. Who are far-left Progressives.

Only 30 million people watched the SOTU. Thats about half the number of people who voted for him in each of his last two elections (which, as he likes to point out, he won).

The truth is that the American public has simply moved on from his Presidency, at least from a leadership perspective. The SOTU showed him to be the quinticential (sp?) lame duck, desperately grasping for things that will keep him relevant to the supporters he needs most.

In the 2008 election Obama won because of a poor GOP candidate and because he successfully minimized his own Progressivism.

In 2012 Obama won because of a poor GOP candidate and because his Progressivism hadn’t really impacted the American public, yet.

Now I’m hoping that in 2016 the GOP has a good candidate. But even if it doesn’t the other half of the equation will be different: the American public is now feeling, and is going to continue to feel, the sting of Progressivism. I keep coming back to that article a few weeks ago about how Obamacare may be allowing some Americans to seek medical treatment, it’s discouraging (through high premiums and deductables) others from doing so. Those “other” predominantly being middle class Americans who had no problems with either health care or health insurance before Obamacare.

Thats really going to matter in 2016. And it’s going to put the Dem nominee into a rock/hard place situation trying to escape it.

I can’t help but think that Obama’s speech was also, significantly, aimed at Hillary. It creates a big Progressive benchmark that she’s going to be measured by, by Progressive Dem primary voters, as she seeks the nomination over the next year and a half. She’s GOT to run to the Left, now, to win those votes. Which will make it harder for her to pivot back to the center. Essentially Obama’s forcing her into his (as we all know) winning campaign model of going hard Left and winning on the strength of Progressive turnout. But that may not work too well for her ...

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