
He's back!
Obama, who reportedly has been running his "Organizing for America" operation, along with his
"When you hear how great the economy's doing right now, let's just remember when this recovery started," Obama said.
But during the Obama administration, the Gross Domestic Product never exceeded 3 percent annually. Obama said the days of strong economic growth were behind us, that many manufacturing jobs were lost and not returning and that candidate Trump didn't have a "magic wand" to fix the economy. But in the second quarter of this year, economic growth exceeded 4 percent and manufacturing jobs are making a comeback.
By the time Obama left office, the unemployment rate had declined from a high approaching 8 percent at the start of his administration to just under 5 percent, but was beginning to tick back upward, according to the
In less than two years of the Trump administration, the nation has effectively gained full employment (3.9 percent unemployment rate) with minority unemployment reaching record lows.
Obama should receive some credit for the way his administration helped the country after the 2007 recession, but not all the credit he now claims for himself.
Hourly earnings, which were largely stagnant during the Obama years, have increased an average 2.9 percent over the last year.
Obama's speech was part of a carefully coordinated strategy to win back a House majority for
Trump did himself a favor by not responding to Obama's speech in kind. Instead of taking to Twitter for a blistering attack, he joked that Obama's speech put him to sleep.
The president did something last week I have long urged him to do. Statistics are dry. Show people who have jobs they couldn't find during the Obama years.
In a speech in
Here's how The Daily Caller reported the story: "The man told a story about the coal industry under Obama and how 'the coal industry absolutely had the boot of government on its throat.'
"'Many, many jobs were lost,' the coal miner said, 'and many towns were destroyed by this. It was just a horrible thing. Horrible suffering happened in this country. Really for made-up reasons, I think. And what your administration does -- has done -- is bringing us back to life.'"
The audience cheered.
This is the way to counter the resistance. Keep showcasing people who were unemployed during the Obama years, but now have jobs. The president should then say if
That objective is what Obama meant in his speech. It is the opposite strategy, one that is working, that
Flesh and blood are more powerful than ink and paper and TV news.
Cal Thomas, America's most-syndicated columnist, is the author of 10 books.