Tag Archives: Obama

What Works — and What Doesn’t — about Obama’s Free Community College Proposal

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Working-Class Perspectives

In this week’s State of the Union address, President Obama will once again argue that higher education is, as he put it in a preview video, “the key to success for our kids in the 21st century.” To increase access, … Continue reading →

Posted in Class and Education, Contributors, Issues, Sherry Linkon | Tagged community college, Obama, workforce preparation, working-class students | 6 Comments

How They Think: The Complexity of White Working-Class Voters

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Working-Class Perspectives

Since the late 90s, political pundits have debated how to define the working class and how to explain their voting patterns. Prior to the 2000 presidential election, a standard definition of the working class combined income, occupation, and education. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Issues, John Russo, Working-Class Politics | Tagged 2008 election, 2012 election, Andrew Levison, Obama, progressive policy, voting patterns, white working-class, working-class voters | 5 Comments

How Kasich Can Win Ohio Again

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Working-Class Perspectives

In November 2011, I published a New York Times op-ed entitled “How Obama Can Win Ohio Again.” Now, with my pundit credentials firmly established (sic), I am opining that Ohio Governor John Kasich will win reelection in 2014. This could … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Issues, John Russo, Working-class politics | Tagged 2012 election, 2014 election, 2016 election, black voters, Kasich, Obama, Ohio politics, Voting Rights Act, white working-class voters | 4 Comments

Raising the Minimum Wage — The Right Way

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Working-Class Perspectives

Ever since President Obama took office I’ve periodically wished I had the ability to call the White House get him on the phone and say “Hey, you’re not doing it right!” Let me be clear—I don’t mean he hasn’t done … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Issues, Leo Jennings, The Working Class and the Economy | Tagged economic policy, low-wage jobs, minimum wage, Obama, wages, Wal-Mart | 2 Comments

The White Vote in 2012 & the Obama Coalition

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Working-Class Perspectives

I’ve had it with “the white working class.” Not the actually existing part of the working class that is white, which is composed of complex and interesting people most of whom don’t vote like I think they should, but rather … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Issues, Jack Metzgar, Working-class politics | Tagged 2012 election, Obama, working-class voters | 6 Comments

Jobs and the “Fiscal Cliff”

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Working-Class Perspectives

My relief that Mitt Romney was not going to be our president, with a Republican Senate along with the House of Representatives, barely lasted through Tuesday night. By my lights, a lot of terrible stuff and a completely wrong direction … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Issues, Jack Metzgar, The Working Class and the Economy | Tagged economic growth, fiscal cliff, Jobs, Obama, taxes | 1 Comment

Obama Will Cruze to Victory

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Working-Class Perspectives

“And the winner is…” (Drum roll—sound of envelope being ripped open.) “…Barack Obama.” I’m going to be honest about this: when it comes to predicting the outcome of the 2012 presidential contest I’ve been downright Romneyan. It’s not something I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Issues, Leo Jennings, Working-class politics | Tagged 2012 election, auto bailout, Obama, Ohio, Romney, working-class voters | 5 Comments

“Job Creators” and “Capitalists Like Me”

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Working-Class Perspectives

It’s one thing when one of the world’s wealthiest capitalists argues that he is not being taxed fairly because he is not being taxed enough, as Warren Buffett did last August. But it’s quite another when a wealthy capitalist explains … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Issues, Jack Metzgar, The Working Class and the Economy, Working-class politics | Tagged consumers, Democrats, job creation, Nick Hanauer, Obama, Republicans, Romney, tax policy | 4 Comments

Right-To-Work Laws and Working-Class Voters: Another Teachable Moment

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Working-Class Perspectives

As a professor, I am always interested in teachable moments. When it became apparent in late 2010 that Ohio Governor John Kasich planned to introduce legislation depriving public sector workers of basic bargaining rights, I told reporters that it was … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Issues, John Russo, Working-class politics | Tagged 2012 election, anti-union, Kasich, Obama, Ohio, Right-to-work, union households, working-class voters | 4 Comments

The Diversity of the White Working Class

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Working-Class Perspectives

The recent firestorm of debate stirred by Thomas Edsall’s New York Times report of a behind-the-scenes plan by “Democratic operatives” to “explicitly abandon the white working class” reveals more about the degraded state of political journalism than it does about … Continue reading →

Posted in Contributors, Issues, Jack Metzgar, Working-class politics | Tagged 2012 election, Democrats, John Halpin, Obama, Ruy Teixeira, The Path to 270, working-class voters | 8 Comments