America's Heartland Benefited From Obama's Economy Better Than Most Think

[Frodo]

Though it still has its problems, of course:

Report: America’s Heartland Is More Prosperous Than Stereotypes Suggest

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[Yank2133]

He will never get any credit.

[Technocracy Timmy]

#Populist Democrats will win back economically anxious Trump voters.

[Progressive Pessimist]

No s***, they won't realize it because they are addicted to the drug that is a culture war obsession.

[OSR stands with Israel]

That is why Obama was reelected in 2012 and the reason the Midwestern Blue Wall Held so strong for him then.

[Intell]

Misleading statistics to further a political point. House prices and GDP growth rate don't matter when wages have been continually falling, income inequality rising, poverty rising, combined with a growing opioid crisis. Many of the American working class since 08' have become the American working class and Obama did nothing to rectify such a problem.

[JA]

Misleading statistics to further a political point. House prices and GDP growth rate don't matter when wages have been continually falling, income inequality rising, poverty rising, combined with a growing opioid crisis. Many of the American working class since 08' have become the American working class and Obama did nothing to rectify such a problem.

This.

But also, I love how when it comes to minority groups Liberals crow, “we should listen to their perspectives, let them tell their experiences and not try to talk over them or judge them!” Which is true, we shouldn’t; as a White man, I simply don’t and never will know what it’s like to be an African American woman in this country. However, for Liberals, when it comes to White people struggling, particularly in America’s heartland, all you’ll hear is, “White trash pieces of sh**t are ingrates who simply don’t know how amazing our leaders have made it for them! Racist hicks need to suffer if they don’t do what we say!”

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

No s***, they won't realize it because they are addicted to the drug that is a culture war obsession.

More like it left them well enuf off that they could make the culture war a priority.

[parochial boy]

Yeah, this is a kind of thing you see a lot of. The, for want of a better word, neoliberal elite, patronisingly telling people that they are actually better off than they ever have been - implying that people's perceptions of their own lives are apparently wrong

[JA]

People across the United States are killing themselves in unprecedented numbers. Their physical health is deteriorating, mental health problems are rampant, and life expectancy is in decline.

But, wait! Many of them live in a nineteen-state region stretching from Alabama to North Dakota that has experienced consistent year-over-year GDP growth over the past decade. They also pay less for housing than people who live in parts of the country with residential shortages and overheated housing markets. Someone needs to tell them, quickly!

I'm sure that many "Heartlanders" want to send a big thank you to the Wal-Mart family for buying this report to let them know just how good they have it. Get your act together, human cattle capital!

Good grief, only someone who is hideously delusional could read this uncritically.

True - all of this. But, just look at all the red avatars who’ve showed up to comment on this thread so far. The sad thing is that they don’t really differ from the Democratic leadership, hence why the Democratic Party has been decimated year after year and its presidential candidate defeated by Donald freaking Trump.

[IceSpear]

No s***, they won't realize it because they are addicted to the drug that is a culture war obsession.

Indeed. When will the GOP stop running on white identity politics?

[IceSpear]

Misleading statistics to further a political point. House prices and GDP growth rate don't matter when wages have been continually falling, income inequality rising, poverty rising, combined with a growing opioid crisis. Many of the American working class since 08' have become the American working class and Obama did nothing to rectify such a problem.

This.

But also, I love how when it comes to minority groups Liberals crow, “we should listen to their perspectives, let them tell their experiences and not try to talk over them or judge them!” Which is true, we shouldn’t; as a White man, I simply don’t and never will know what it’s like to be an African American woman in this country. However, for Liberals, when it comes to White people struggling, particularly in America’s heartland, all you’ll hear is, “White trash pieces of sh**t are ingrates who simply don’t know how amazing our leaders have made it for them! Racist hicks need to suffer if they don’t do what we say!”

I am a literal "white working class male." I certainly fit the definition better than 99% of the posters here. And here's my perspective: the uneducated white trash racist hicks should stop blaming minorities for all their problems and take a look at two things: 1) the ACTUAL "elites" who they vote for and enthusiastically support that are robbing the poor, the middle class, the social safety net, etc. to pay for more tax cuts for themselves and 2) the mirror.

Given that I am a white working class male, you should take my perspective into consideration and stop being so condescending by calling me a coastal elitist.

[Intell]

Misleading statistics to further a political point. House prices and GDP growth rate don't matter when wages have been continually falling, income inequality rising, poverty rising, combined with a growing opioid crisis. Many of the American working class since 08' have become the American working class and Obama did nothing to rectify such a problem.

This.

But also, I love how when it comes to minority groups Liberals crow, “we should listen to their perspectives, let them tell their experiences and not try to talk over them or judge them!” Which is true, we shouldn’t; as a White man, I simply don’t and never will know what it’s like to be an African American woman in this country. However, for Liberals, when it comes to White people struggling, particularly in America’s heartland, all you’ll hear is, “White trash pieces of sh**t are ingrates who simply don’t know how amazing our leaders have made it for them! Racist hicks need to suffer if they don’t do what we say!”

I am a literal "white working class male." I certainly fit the definition better than 99% of the posters here. And here's my perspective: the uneducated white trash racist hicks should stop blaming minorities for all their problems and take a look at two things: 1) the ACTUAL "elites" who they vote for and enthusiastically support that are robbing the poor, the middle class, the social safety net, etc. to pay for more tax cuts for themselves and 2) the mirror.

Given that I am a white working class male, you should take my perspective into consideration and stop being so condescending by calling me a coastal elitist.

All good and all but saying that the heartland (which includes black people) benefited from Obama's economy is ridiculous, or that the economy was somehow "good" takes a huge leap from that conclusion.

Also if we're going there, I was raised in a working-class family and held two jobs (waiter, gas station checkout operator throughout a lot of my adult life. Life is better now though.

[Ban my account ffs!]

The economy isn’t enough to fix what has gone terribly wrong in the heartland.  The cultural, civic rot after 45 years of attacking American institutions, cynical culture wars, and increasingly sedintary, poor diet lifestyles is catching up to them.

They feel like they don’t have a country anymore.  They can game the system to put their party into power...but they still lose overall.  They are effectively a giant electoral zombie.  Trying to eat the brains of America because it might bring back an idealized version of the past that never happened.

They have little hope, few prospects, and increasingly they are despairing over wasted lives of little meaning and have nothing to look forward to but death.  Sounds harsh, but face it people...America’s heartland is rotten under the surface and people desperately want to shift blame to any group they feel is less than them.

America was born in idealism...the idea that you can believe whatever the hell you want and live your life that way.  Whether it was a booming economy or the promise of a better life for new immigrants or fighting to help save the world from fascism or tyrannical communism, we always had one ideal or another that most people could cling to while allowing for other ideals to vary from place to place and person to person.  That is calcifying now.  We don’t have common ideals.  We have competing ones.  Like a rubberband being stretched, the sides grow further and further apart, but the end result is bad if we keep going like this.

[pbrower2a]

He will never get any credit.

Let's remember that he did not use (not that he could have gotten away with it) policies intended to hurt people who voted 'wrong'.

The Obama economy was a recovery economy, and it had no bubble.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

No s***, they won't realize it because they are addicted to the drug that is a culture war obsession.

Indeed. When will the GOP stop running on white identity politics?

Opposing abortion, secularism, internationalism, gun control, and drug legalization are white policies? Keep in mind that it was abortion, not immigration, that allowed evangelicals to hold their noses and vote for Trump. Don't mistake the tail for the dog no matter how long it is nor how hard it wags.

[Ban my account ffs!]

No s***, they won't realize it because they are addicted to the drug that is a culture war obsession.

Indeed. When will the GOP stop running on white identity politics?

Opposing abortion, secularism, internationalism, gun control, and drug legalization are white policies? Keep in mind that it was abortion, not immigration, that allowed evangelicals to hold their noses and vote for Trump. Don't mistake the tail for the dog no matter how long it is nor how hard it wags.

They can all be rooted in insecurities about your racial identity, yes.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

No s***, they won't realize it because they are addicted to the drug that is a culture war obsession.

Indeed. When will the GOP stop running on white identity politics?

Opposing abortion, secularism, internationalism, gun control, and drug legalization are white policies? Keep in mind that it was abortion, not immigration, that allowed evangelicals to hold their noses and vote for Trump. Don't mistake the tail for the dog no matter how long it is nor how hard it wags.

They can all be rooted in insecurities about your racial identity, yes.

  Can be? President Hillary Clinton can tell you how effective it is to blame people for not agreeing because they are deplorable, especially when there are valid non-deplorable reasons for holding positions.

[DINGO Joe]

This is a GDP map by state for 2012:



Really not much correlation between GDP growth and who you vote for.

[IceSpear]

No s***, they won't realize it because they are addicted to the drug that is a culture war obsession.

Indeed. When will the GOP stop running on white identity politics?

Opposing abortion, secularism, internationalism, gun control, and drug legalization are white policies? Keep in mind that it was abortion, not immigration, that allowed evangelicals to hold their noses and vote for Trump. Don't mistake the tail for the dog no matter how long it is nor how hard it wags.

They can all be rooted in insecurities about your racial identity, yes.

  Can be? President Hillary Clinton can tell you how effective it is to blame people for not agreeing because they are deplorable, especially when there are valid non-deplorable reasons for holding positions.

You forgot black people kneeling, brown people existing, and Confederate traitor flags.

Anyway, Hillary Clinton couldn't tell you anything about that, since her Deplorables comment had zero impact on the election results.

[Ban my account ffs!]

No s***, they won't realize it because they are addicted to the drug that is a culture war obsession.

Indeed. When will the GOP stop running on white identity politics?

Opposing abortion, secularism, internationalism, gun control, and drug legalization are white policies? Keep in mind that it was abortion, not immigration, that allowed evangelicals to hold their noses and vote for Trump. Don't mistake the tail for the dog no matter how long it is nor how hard it wags.

They can all be rooted in insecurities about your racial identity, yes.

  Can be? President Hillary Clinton can tell you how effective it is to blame people for not agreeing because they are deplorable, especially when there are valid non-deplorable reasons for holding positions.

I mean.. the cynical part of me wants them to keep doing what they're doing.  Because it is very obvious at this point that it is hurting them.  Death by a thousand cuts, brought to you by the Deplorable Republican Party.

For example, I am all for cuts to entitlements, as long as they cut benefits to current retirees.  Drop the corporate tax rate to 5% and make up for it with cuts to Medicare and Social Security.  Sorry grandma, your check is smaller because you voted to give away what you earned to the corporations.  Oh... you don't own stock?  Dumbass.

[Torie]

This is a GDP map by state for 2012:



Really not much correlation between GDP growth and who you vote for.

This map would be more useful if it were adjusted for population growth - in order words, have per capita growth numbers.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Anyway, Hillary Clinton couldn't tell you anything about that, since her Deplorables comment had zero impact on the election results.

At a minimum, it kept her from spending time and effort on arguments that might have gotten people to vote for her.

Also, if you think that people agitated by NFL players kneeling are primarily motivated by the fact the kneelers are black instead of perceived disrespect to national symbols, you're out of touch. At minimum you've never been in church that had the U.S. and Christian flags on display in the worship area. Some people take God and Country extremely seriously.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Yeah that’s idolatry and a true affront to God.

[BBD]

Anyway, Hillary Clinton couldn't tell you anything about that, since her Deplorables comment had zero impact on the election results.

At a minimum, it kept her from spending time and effort on arguments that might have gotten people to vote for her.

Also, if you think that people agitated by NFL players kneeling are primarily motivated by the fact the kneelers are black instead of perceived disrespect to national symbols, you're out of touch. At minimum you've never been in church that had the U.S. and Christian flags on display in the worship area. Some people take God and Country extremely seriously.

Maybe you ought to look in the mirror.

The authority that they defend are responsible for systemic brutality against black people. If they weren't hypocrites, if their offense wasn't influenced by race, if they truly believed that protesting during the anthem was disrespectful to national symbols, then they'd actually have a problem with Tim Tebow's kneeling stunts as well as Roseanne's bizarre crotch-grab stunt.

But no, their serious devotion of God and country cause them to heartily support a woman who grabbed her crotch during the anthem, and at the same time fly into a fit of unyielding rage when a black man kneels.

"Disrespect" seems pretty darn subjective depending on whether the stunt pullers share commonalities with them - religious, political, and racial.