In the six years that President Obama has been in office, the following changes have taken place:

1) The economy, which was losing 750,000 jobs a month when the president began his first term, has seen increasingly robust private sector job growth for 56 straight months — almost five years. During this period of time, 10.6 million private sector jobs have been created;

2) The unemployment rate when President Obama came into office was 7.8 percent. At the end of October, it had been reduced to 5.8 percent;

3) When the President entered the White House the federal deficit was $1.4 trillion dollars a year. This year’s deficit was $483 billion, the lowest level since 2007, before the onset of the great recession.

In September Forbes magazine, a very conservative publication, reported that Barack Obama has been the most successful economic president in modern history. His policies have led to greater economic gains than any other president in the last 35 years, including Ronald Reagan.

President Obama would be even more successful if congressional Republicans would stop their automatic opposition to anything he proposes. The president has initiated a series of proposals that, if enacted by the Congress, would accelerate the rate of private sector job growth. Of particular importance in this regard are his proposals for much-needed repairs of our country’s deteriorating roads and bridges, and for improvement and expansion of our rail transportation systems.

The President has also introduced a number of policies designed to increase the stagnant wages of middle and lower income Americans. One important proposal is to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. Many polls have shown that this change is supported by a significant majority of the American people. In the last election, minimum wage increases passed in every state in which they were on the ballot.

Congressman Fred Upton has refused to support any of President Obama’s job creation or wage increase proposals. He seems more concerned with conforming to the Republican party line than improving the economic well-being of his constituents. Please contact his office (269) 385-0039 and urge him to support the president’s important economic initiatives.

 

Larry Feldman

Lakeside