United States – Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton addressed the root of the economists, political strategists, and the White House on the question of why Americans are not happy about the economy despite the economy having the best numbers and records.
Structural Problems and Economic Angst
Obama and Clinton spoke at a large fundraiser for President Biden in wealthy donors at Radio City Music Hall, urging the crowd to stick with President Biden and explain their economic concerns even though unemployment was down, consumers were spending, and the GDP quality was better than forecasted, as reported by Reuters.
Obama talked about the “structural problems” that cause anger, among them the suppression of unions. He remarked that he particularly struggled with Biden on this point.
“If you’re working hard and your paycheck is getting stretched beyond the breaking point, and you’re worried about rent and the price of gas, it’s understandable,” Obama said.
Biden and the people who support him need to communicate: “Who do you think is actually going to look out for you?” Obama questioned. He specifically mentioned that Trump, who is running for President of the Republic, does not meet his criteria for the right leader.
Inflation and Corporate Profits
Biden and the Republicans state that Trump’s fault is that it led to high prices, which hurt American citizens’ pockets in grocery stores, housing, and other sectors of the economy. Biden says that, in part, inflation is caused by corporate profits, and without much competition inf, inflation could still come down, but there is still more work needed.
Via Twitter, Clinton, who was president between 1993 and 2001, reminded the public of the scenario that contributed to the 2016 election loss his wife, the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, suffered from against Trump.
Clinton’s Reminder and Reflection
The 2008 financial crisis marred and limited what Obama could accomplish, Clinton said. During the 2009 recovery process, Biden did a “heck of a good job” carrying through Obama’s Recovery Act then, Clinton says, as they two worked to bridge the $3 trillion deficit in the economy. Obama’s first term was marked by rapid economic growth, but people couldn’t sense the significant improvement at the end of his term. They did later.
“President Trump, let’s be honest, had a pretty good couple of years cause he stole them from Barack Obama,” Clinton said about the economy Trump inherited from his predecessor, as reported by Reuters.
“I listened to him tell us how terrible the American economy was all during 2016, and then by January 2017, after the inauguration, it had become wonderful, miraculously, overnight.”
2016 Mistake should not be repeated, Clinton added.