Obama Leaves Base Behind: 4th Quarter Harmed Women, Blacks & Young

The final quarter of President Obama’s first term economy ended with a whimper. Obama’s base rallied to propel the President to a second term, but wilted into another funk when they saw December’s numbers and 2012’s 4th quarter results. Despite the wounds his base has already suffered, President Obama feels no pain as he leaves his base behind. The 4th quarter of 2012 harmed women, blacks and the young. The weak quarter left Hispanics and Latinos lingering near the 10% number which they can’t seem to shake.

You won’t find any media stories documenting December’s dismal numbers because the 4th quarter was nothing to write home about. As far as the media is concerned, the crowning achievement of the quarter was Obama’s re-election and the strength of his base. Why would they want to call attention to the fact that Obama now dances with Wall Street as he leaves his base hang’n in the street. Take a look at the following numbers taken straight from the government’s own Bureau of Labor & Statistics:

For women 20 years and over, the unemployment rate crept upward from 6.2% in November to 6.3% in December 2012. In December 2008 the number was 5.6%.

For both sexes, 16 to 19 years, the unemployment number jumped from 20.3% in November to 21.6% in December. In December 2008 the number was 18.9%.

For Black or African Americans, the unemployment rate climbed from 13.2% in November to 14.0% in December. The number in December of 2008 was 11.7%. The 4th Quarter number was up from 13.8% in the 3rd to 13.9% – an increase of 27,000 African Americans unemployed.

For African American women 20 years and older, the unemployment rate jumped from 11.5% in November to 12.2% in December. The number in December 2008 was 8.5%. The 4th Quarter number was up from 11.5% in the 3rd to 12.1% – an increase of 76,000 African American women unemployed.

Hispanic and Latino unemployment has struggled throughout Obama’s entire first term. Their number began at 9.4% in December of 2008, rose and remained in a 12-13% funk for nearly two years, and then dropped again in December of 2012 to 9.6%.

President Obama remains more interested in taking more money from the rich than he is in helping his base find meaningful work. He won his battle to increase taxes on the rich, but he left his base behind, subjecting them to an extra $1000 a year in payroll taxes.

The parakeets’ feathers are now ruffled and puffed. The middle class birds are feeling quite stuffed. They’ve joined with the poor in tweeting catatonic distress – could truly be called a cacophonic mess!

The national media has diverted attention from weak jobs reports and the stagnant economy to the Benghazi cover-up, the fiscal cliff that never was, the 14th amendment, gun control and the President’s selections for his 2013 cabinet.

While the poor and the middle class struggle to survive, President Obama announced that Wall Street Wonder, Jacob “Jack” Lew, will become his new Secretary of the Treasury, replacing Timothy Geithner. The President spent a lot of time yesterday extolling Mr. Lew’s virtues and qualifications.

Obama’s best line of the day was, “I know very few people with greater integrity.”

That, my friends, is the definition of a “telling statement.”

Mr. Lew, if you remember, is the same guy who wrote President Obama’s 2012 budget – the budget that Majority Leader, Harry Reid, wouldn’t bring up for a vote. On February 13, 2011 Lew appeared on CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley, saying,

“Our budget will get us, over the next several years, to the point where we can look the American people in the eye and say we’re not adding to the debt anymore; we’re spending money that we have each year, and then we can work on bringing down our national debt.”

Lew, the former Office of Management and Budget chief under Bill Clinton, insists to this day that deregulation was not “the proximate cause” of the financial crisis which still hangs like a dark cloud over our debt-ridden economy. He worked with Clinton on the two deregulation acts which his current boss has blamed for the financial crisis we’re in: the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 and the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000. The first repealed the law which kept commercial banks from offering or engaging in services offered by investment banks. The second, the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 “eliminated virtually all regulation” over the kinds of derivatives that trade outside regulators’ view.

Clinton signing the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000

President Obama, in his 2008 campaign against John McCain, blamed our current financial crisis on the deregulation of banks and Wall Street, saying,

“It’s because of deregulation that Wall Street was able to engage in the kind of irresponsible actions that have caused this financial crisis.”

Jack Lew participated with zeal in the Wall Street profiteering. According to the Huffington Post Lew worked for CitiGroup from 2006 until 2009 when he became CEO of the bailed-out Alternative Investments unit which “engaged in proprietary trading and invested in hedge funds and private equity groups.” The Huffington Post reported in July of 2010 that while Lew was with Citigroup he oversaw a unit that won heavily, betting on the collapse of the housing market. Lew walked away with millions earned at the bailed-out bank. He later deposited a $950,000 bonus check presented to him in 2009 a short time after CitiGroup cashed its $45 billion bail-out check funded by the U.S. taxpayers.

President Obama had some things to say in 2009 about the lack of responsibility shown by Wall Street executives who walked away with big checks from bailed-out banks and Wall Street investment companies. His words were well chosen to soothe the stress of his angry base.

Obama’s forgotten the lyrics written to calm his base. His hungry crowds are walking in place. They sing somber lyrics while marching in tow, mouthing no sharps . . . piping a much drearier tone:

Brought Wall Street to Washington where they’ll dance in the street,

Celebrating their fortune while we’ve little to eat.

With high unemployment and little “change” for his base,

They’ll twitter and they’ll tweet; and some will disgrace.

In the end, I am sure; they’ll still think he’s sweet!