It is not at all clear that President Barack Obama really understands the economic struggle so many Americans are facing right now. And some of his recent comments during a political fundraiser made it even more obvious that he is out of touch.
He chastised Democrats who are not very enthusiastic about the upcoming congressional elections, saying, “The single biggest threat to our success is not the other party. It’s us. It’s complacency. It’s apathy. It’s indifference.”
Then he added, “It’s people feeling like, well, we only got 80 percent of what we want, we didn’t get the other 20, so we’re just going to sit on our hands.”
It is baffling that the president believes the American people have gotten “80 percent of what we want” from his administration and from complete Democratic control of Congress.
Unemployment is at a devastating 9.6 percent, and it is not expected to drop much soon, maybe not for years to come. Millions more are employed only part time and cannot get nearly as much work as they need to support themselves and their families. Homeowners by the hundreds of thousands are facing foreclosure. And the national debt is well over $13 trillion and climbing, with no end in sight.
Those are the most important things Americans of all political viewpoints are considering when they decide whether they are content with the way our nation is being governed – and all indications are that the public is extremely dissatisfied.
Yet the president seemed almost offended when protesters at his speech complained about what they saw as his administration’s shortcomings.
“Folks should be hollering at the other folks’ events …,” he said – the “other folks” apparently being Republicans, whom he holds responsible for virtually every problem the United States faces today.
But the real “hollering” will come on Election Day, Nov. 2, when the American people are likely to send the president and the Democrats a loud and clear message.