In President Obama's final State of the Union address, a passage stood out as offering people struggling in the midst of a solid economic recovery a clear rejoinder to the scapegoating nativists and thieving plutocrats of the Republican/ New Confederate/ Stupid/ Shooter's Party:
I believe a thriving private sector is the lifeblood of our economy. I think there are outdated regulations that need to be changed. There is red tape that needs to be cut. (Applause.) There you go! Yes! (Applause.) But after years now of record corporate profits, working families won’t get more opportunity or bigger paychecks just by letting big banks or big oil or hedge funds make their own rules at everybody else’s expense. (Applause.) Middle-class families are not going to feel more secure because we allowed attacks on collective bargaining to go unanswered. Food Stamp recipients did not cause the financial crisis; recklessness on Wall Street did. (Applause.) Immigrants aren’t the principal reason wages haven’t gone up; those decisions are made in the boardrooms that all too often put quarterly earnings over long-term returns. It’s sure not the average family watching tonight that avoids paying taxes through offshore accounts. (our emphasis)Every message at every level Democrats craft to run on in 2016 must begin with the significant accomplishments of the Obama Administration. But the message also needs to acknowledge the continuing struggles and, most importantly, who the real villains are (hint: see above).
