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"My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody. I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."
The Republicans and the right-wing news media pounced on the comment, accusing Obama of running for "redistributionist in chief."
Fox News played up the following snide statement from a spokesman for John McCain: "If Barack Obama's goal as President is to 'spread the wealth around,' perhaps his unconditional meetings with Hugo Chavez, Raul Castro, and Kim Jong-Il aren't so crazy -- if nothing else, they can advise an Obama administration on economic policy."
A chastened Obama quickly learned his lesson. Since the "Joe the Plumber" incident, Obama has avoided any clear suggestion that he sees a benefit in a more equitable sharing of wealth.
On Feb. 7, 2011, the President volunteered to undergo a TV grilling by Fox's Bill O'Reilly prior to the Super Bowl and was prepared for O'Reilly's when-did-you-stop-beating-your-wife-type question on the topic:
"Do you deny that you're a man who wants to redistribute wealth?" asked O'Reilly.
"Absolutely. Absolutely," Obama responded.
O'Reilly himself is an interesting case study. A graduate of Catholic grammar and high schools on Long Island, he in 1971 earned a B.A. in history from Marist College, which was founded by the Catholic order of Marist Brothers in Poughkeepsie, New York. He then taught briefly in a Catholic high school.
There is no indication that anywhere along the line anyone told him of the Jubilee Year concept, or even that Jesus of Nazareth said he would be, and his followers should be, "good news for the poor."
Fox has been very good news for O'Reilly; Wikipedia records his annual salary at $20,000,000.
Given how Obama facilitated "resolving" the manufactured crisis over raising the debt ceiling and other fiscal measures, he seems determined to prove his declaration to O'Reilly.
Backs of the Poor
At a Town Hall meeting at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California, on April 20, the President inadvertently (and ironically) gave a hint regarding how easy it would be to do what he actually ended up doing -- even while criticizing the Republican attitude of neglect of the poor.
Here's what Obama said to applause from the well-heeled folks at Facebook:
"Nothing is easier than solving a problem on the backs of people who are poor, for people who are powerless and don't have lobbyists or don't have clout."
Then, to avoid an unprecedented default on the payment of U.S. debts, Obama ultimately opted for this "easier" course of action, exempting the wealthy and corporations from pitching in to solve the debt problem and bowing to Republican demands that everything come from spending cuts.
The outcome of the debt-ceiling battle has left many disillusioned Democrats and progressives now certain that it's foolhardy to expect Obama to behave any differently, even though he continues to promise a vigorous debate on the proper role of government in American society but then never delivers.
That means the next course of action for Americans who want a different outcome may be to knock on the doors of rectories, synagogues and mosques to see if there's anyone home and if anyone cares about what is happening to those on the margins.
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