The Late, Great Middle Class

It’s never been harder to find a decent job making something real.

by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online 

The American middle class, like the American economy in general, is ailing. Labor-force participation has hit a 35-year low.Destitute_man_vacant_store

Median household income is lower than it was five years ago. Only the top 5 percent of households have seen their incomes rise under President Obama.

Commuters are paying more than twice as much for gas as they were in 2008. Federal payouts for food stamps, unemployment insurance, and disability insurance have reached unprecedented levels.

Meanwhile, the country is still running near-record budget deficits and is burdened by $17 trillion in aggregate debt. Yet the stock market is soaring.

How can we make sense of all this contradictory nonsense? Irony.

Obama promised to restore the middle class. In truth, Continue reading “The Late, Great Middle Class”

The News Behind the News: From Herman Cain to Blue Wall Street

by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

It Doesn’t Add Up

Here are some things in the daily news that do not quite make sense. Continue reading “The News Behind the News: From Herman Cain to Blue Wall Street”

Who Are These Fat-Cat Few at the Top?

by Victor Davis Hanson

Tribune Media Services

First lady Michelle Obama the other day railed at “the few at the top,” who do all sorts of bad things. Continue reading “Who Are These Fat-Cat Few at the Top?”

Obama’s Blame Game

by Victor Davis Hanson

National Review Online

We are told there are lots of reasons why borrowing $5 trillion in less than three years and federalizing healthcare have not yet restored prosperity. Continue reading “Obama’s Blame Game”

Wall Street’s Disgruntles Utopians

by Bruce S. Thornton

FrontPage Magazine

The Occupy Wall Street protesters are looking more and more like the shock troops of the Democratic Party’s electoral tactic of class warfare. Responding to a question about the protesters, the President gave an oblique endorsement when he said, “The American people understand that not everybody has been following the rules; that Wall Street is an example of that.” Continue reading “Wall Street’s Disgruntles Utopians”

Obama’s Racial Crisis

by Victor Davis Hanson

National Review Online

In the current racial circus, the president of the United States, in addressing an assembly of upscale black professionals and political leaders, adopts the style of a Southern Baptist preacher of the 1960s. Continue reading “Obama’s Racial Crisis”

The California Corridor: Some Lessons on Government Largesse From the New Frontier

by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

The Great Warpath

This summer it has been a softer, modern version of living in a cabin on the Great Warpath circa 1740 near Albany or Montreal (in this regard, take a look at Eliot Cohen’s new book Conquered into Liberty on the origins of the American way of war), readying oneself for the next break-in — so our inland “California Corridor” has become from Bakersfield to Sacramento. Continue reading “The California Corridor: Some Lessons on Government Largesse From the New Frontier”

What’s Off the Table in 2012?

by Victor Davis Hanson

Tribune Media Services

What should we not expect during next summer’s presidential campaign, given what was put off limits in 2008 and later? Continue reading “What’s Off the Table in 2012?”

A Vineyard Too Far

by Victor Davis Hanson

National Review Online

By Sunday afternoon, the Gallup tracking poll showed a 17-point spread in the president’s approval rating — 38 percent approval to 55 percent disapproval. Continue reading “A Vineyard Too Far”

What If the President Liked Businesspeople?

by Victor Davis Hanson

Tribune Media Services

The US stock market has nose-dived. Congress just approved the highest debt ceiling in American history, allowing the government to carry over $16 trillion in national debt, and prompting the credit-rating agency Standard & Poor’s to downgrade America’s multitrillion-dollar debt for the first time in 70 years. Continue reading “What If the President Liked Businesspeople?”