by Stephen Lendman

Obama is a corporate tool. A war profiteer's dream. Super-rich Americans never had it better during his tenure. Entirely reflecting anti-populist extremism. Policies hugely benefitting Wall Street. Other corporate favorites. Wealthy investors. America's privileged class.

At the expense of popular needs gone begging. Including so-called financial reform legislation written by Wall Street lawyers. Obamacare drafted by healthcare giants.

So-called "grand bargain" help for struggling middle America reflects total capitulation to America's aristocracy.

The nation's social contract threatened. Targeted for elimination altogether. Forced-fed austerity replacing it. During protracted Main Street Depression conditions.

Unprecedented wealth disparity unfairness. Growing millions impoverished. It doesn't matter.

Throughout his tenure, Obama consistently supported corporate tax cuts. Increased corporate subsidies. Other corporate benefits.

Medicare and Social Security cuts. Fantasy jobs created. Fake ones concealing nearly one-fourth of working-age Americans unemployed.

Most others underemployed. Needing two or more jobs to survive. Most available are part-time or temp low-pay/poor or no benefits rotten ones.

Privatizing public education. Commodifying it. Making it another business profit center at the expense of real learning.

Gutting public and private worker pensions. Other social benefit cuts when most needed.

Including extended unemployment benefits millions of jobless Americans need. Food stamps for low income households.

Home energy assistance. Especially for heat in winter. Pell Grants for college tuitions. Loan shark student loans replacing them.

Head Start for comprehensive education, health, nutrition and parent-involvement services. WIC (women, infants and children) grants.

Community healthcare centers. Numerous other federal programs. Cut on route to eliminating them altogether.

Leaving increasing numbers of Americans on their own sink or swim. "Grand bargain" deception. Social America being systematically destroyed.

Its resources increasingly benefitting privileged elites. Inequality is institutionalized. Hard times keep getting harder.

Poverty is a growth industry. A race to the bottom reflects official bipartisan policy. Human suffering is real.

America's middle class is targeted for elimination. Heading for history's dustbin. The nation increasingly becoming a ruler/serf society.

Obama is a serial liar. Breaking every major promise made. Expect his latest to be no exception.

His annual state of the union addresses reflect beginning-to-end doublespeak duplicity. Empty rhetoric concealing business as usual.

Continuation of ruinous policies. Governing to the right of George Bush. Beholden solely to monied interests.

in previous state of the union addresses, he promised undelivered economic growth. Millions of new living wage/good benefits jobs.

Tax relief for ordinary Americans. Lump of coal harshness followed. Throughout his tenure, he promised one thing. Delivered another.

His latest scheme promises more of the same. Smoke and mirrors deception in lieu of real substantive change.

If none throughout his first six years in office, why expect something different this time.

Especially with Republicans controlling both houses. Many Democrats supporting their policies.

Obama a stealth Republican. Based on his record so far. Earlier as a US senator.

Expect nothing benefitting ordinary Americans from his latest so-called proposal. The New York Times discussed it.

Saying he'll "use his State of the Union address to call on Congress to raise taxes and fees on the wealthiest taxpayers and the largest financial firms to finance an array of tax cuts for the middle class, pressing to reshape the tax code to help working families, administration officials said on Saturday."

It bears repeating. If not earlier throughout his six years in office, why now? As a lame duck. With Republicans largely controlling policy.

On January 17, a so-called White House Fact Sheet headlined "A Simpler, Fairer Tax Code That Responsibly Invests in Middle Class Families."

Rubbish! A litany of Big Lies followed. Reality is polar opposite duplicitous claims listed.

Including saying "(o)n Tuesday, (Obama) will lay out his (new) vision…"

"A key part…include(s) a new strategy to simplify our complex tax code, make it fairer by eliminating some of the biggest loopholes, and use the savings to responsibly pay for the investments we need to help middle class families get ahead and grow the economy."

He'll propose eliminating loopholes he supported maintaining up to now. Raising capital gains and dividends taxes he endorsed cutting earlier.

"Making the biggest financial firms pay their fare share." Up to now, his policies were polar opposite.

"Helping working families" he harmed unfairly. "Tripling the child care tax credit" he's done nothing to increase so far.

"Making college accessible and affordable." Obama supports America's student loan racket. Assuring longterm debt bondage for millions of graduates.

A conspiratorial alliance of lenders, guarantors, servicers, and collection companies. Ripping off students unfairly.

Principle, accrued interest, late payment and collection agency penalties create enormous burdens to repay.

Private lenders are exempt from federal fair debt collection requirements. Federal loans have minimal safety net protection.

Lenders operate virtually risk-free. The system is rigged against borrowers.

Loans are easy to get. Tough to service. Never forgiven. Burdensome debt escalates higher.

A vicious circle entraps graduates and dropouts. For many it's permanent. Obama's student loan policy made things worse, not better.

"(M)aking it easy and automatic for workers to save for retirement." When up to now he supported gutting public and private pensions.

In 2010, he rhetorically opposed extending Bush era tax cuts for households earning over $250,000.

An earlier promise made. Another broken. Saying one thing. Doing another. Capitulating to Republicans.

A December 6 press release saying while "disagree(ing)" with GOP members he capitulated.

Claiming "without a willingness to give on both sides, there's no reason to believe (the current) stalemate won't continue well into next year…"

"I am not willing to let that happen. (I)t would be the wrong thing to do."

"As a result, we have arrived at a framework for a bipartisan agreement."

Assuring business as usual. Caving to deep-pocketed donors. Benefitting America's privileged class.

Stiff-arming others most in need. Gaining nothing from low capital gains and dividends taxes.

Obama's so-called "tough choices…to secure our future and our children's future and our grandchildren's future" involves assuring they have none at all.

Class warfare is official US policy. Democrats and Republicans support it.

Neoliberal harshness reflects it. So do an array of bipartisan backed policies solely benefitting corporate America and super-rich elites.

The New York Times operates as a megaphone of misinformation. Ludicrously claiming Obama's "initiative signals a turnabout…"

After six years of broken promises. One-sided fealty to monied interests. Letting war profiteers gorge at the public trough.

Cutting social programs when most needed. Popular ones increasingly ignored. Duplicity defines his agenda. Business as usual reflects it.

Expect nothing different this time. Once a monied interest tool. Always one.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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