How the Middle Class Has Faired Under Obama

Currently, about 44% of Americans identify themselves as being in the middle class.  So, it's no wonder why annually. President Obama has pitched some kind of give-away to them in order to endear them to, and garner votes for, both him and his Democrat party.

Now, in the 2015 State of the Union Address, Obama repeated his commitment to helping the middle class.  Just as he has promised every year since before taking office.  In 2008, just a month before the election that gave him the presidency for the first time, he penned a "Rescue Plan" in which he promised, if elected, to give the middle class tax breaks and strengthen them with better jobs.  Then, after taking office in January 2009, he decided not to implement the "Rescue Plan" that he had promised just 3 months earlier.  This, despite the fact that he had majority control of both houses of Congress to pass any tax cuts that he wanted.  Instead, he created a Task Force to address the weakening middle class. Of course, and in typical fashion, the findings of the Task Force were pretty much ignored by Obama.  But, the promise of tax cuts did what it was supposed to.  Get him elected.

Clearly, without getting into all the details that are in the "References" below, the middle class has been a constant focus of this President.  And sadly, they may have voted for him on the basis of all his promises and rhetoric, and received nothing in return.  The best example of this is displayed in this graph on median family incomes since Obama took office in 2009:

Note: Office Gov't Data For 2014 Won't Be Available Until mid-2015

Simply, the American middle class is hurting because Obama has prevented the one thing that is more important to that class than all his targeted tax cuts:  Good paying jobs.  As long as American businesses are saddled with one new regulation after another,  good paying middle class jobs continue to be scarce.

References:

2015:  Obama to pitch middle-class economic plan in annual address: http://news.yahoo.com/obamas-address-pitch-tax-proposals-help-middle-class-100326731.html

2014: Despite recovery, fewer Americans identify as middle class: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/01/27/despite-recovery-fewer-americans-identify-as-middle-class/

2008: Barack Obama: A Rescue Plan for the Middle-Class: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/10/a_rescue_plan_for_the_middlecl.html

2009: Middle Class Task Force: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog_post/Todaysevent/

2009: Health Care Reform: Taxes May Hit Middle-Class - ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/health-care-reform-taxes-hit-middle-class/story?id=9090430

2010: Obama's plan to help the middle class: how it might affect you: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0125/Obama-s-plan-to-help-the-middle-class-how-it-might-affect-you

2011: Obama: "I'm A Warrior For The Middle Class": http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/09/22/obama_im_a_class_warrior.html

2012: Obama’s Middle Class ‘Tax Cut’ Would Raise Taxes by $1.3 Trillion Over Eight Years: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-s-middle-class-tax-cut-would-raise-taxes-13-trillion-over-eight-years

2013: Obama Focuses on Economy, Vowing to Help Middle Class: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/us/politics/obama-to-restate-economic-vision-at-knox-college.html

2014: Obama: Middle-class issues drive my agenda: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/economy/obama-middle-class-issues-drive-my-agenda

STUDY: Obama has worst record on keeping State of the Union promises: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/20/obama-has-worst-state-union-record-ford-study-show/

Poll: Poll: 72 percent of small businesses say regulations are hurting them: http://thehill.com/regulation/business/279443-poll-72-percent-of-small-businesses-say-regulations-are-hurting-

Former Obama administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Cass Sunstein: Yes, Regulation Can Kill Jobs: http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-03-04/yes-regulation-can-kill-jobs

Obama Imposed 75,000 Pages of New Regulations in 2014: http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/19803-obama-imposed-75-000-pages-of-new-regulations-in-2014

Obama administration imposed $181 billion in regulations in 2014: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/01/06/obama-administration-passed-181-billion-in-regulations-in-2014-report-finds/

December 2014: Report: 21000 regulations so far under Obama: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/report-21000-regulations-so-far-under-obama-2375-set-for-2015/article/2558050