There are two potential ways to measure the economic performance of a political leader. One is by the profitability, stock prices and executive bonuses of a nation’s corporations. The other is by the financial condition of the majority of its population.
Taxes
Just in time for Christmas, we got Obama’s big tax-cut compromise.
Obama’s reverse Robin Hood deal with the Republicans disproportionally takes from the poor to give to the rich. The plan adds another $1 trillion to the record United States deficit, $700 billion of which would be the cost of extending tax breaks to the wealthiest 2 percent of the country, the rest going toward jobless benefits — necessary to help those victims of the wider economic problems, but not complemented with a job-creation program.
Housing
Obama’s $75 billion Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) was an unmitigated disaster for the borrowers who tried to take part, despite his promises that it would help 3 to 4 million struggling borrowers keep their homes...Half of the 1.4 million borrowers that entered the HAMP program were kicked out. Only 2 percent of the loan modifications so far have involved lasting principal reductions...
On Dec. 15, I spoke at a mortgage fraud seminar in Ontario, Calif., and, let me tell you, there’s more fraud going on in modification-land than there was in loan-origination-land... In the meantime, 8 million to 13 million foreclosures are expected to have taken place from the time the banks got their bailouts until 2012.
If you figure on average there are three people living in each home, we’re talking 24 million to 39 million displaced people.Unreformed Banking System
Throughout his presidential campaign and his first 18 months in office leading up to the passing of the Dodd-Frank so-called financial reform bill this summer, President Obama asserted that the crippled economy was predominantly the result of failures in the banking system.
He admonished bankers for their greed and vowed that those days were over. Never again. Blah, blah, blah. But, the financial reform bill that he championed stopped none of the risky practices of the most powerful banks...
Jobs
On the job front, the picture remains bleak, as everyone is keenly aware.
Nearly 11.5 million people have lost their jobs since Obama took office, despite claims that the $787 billion stimulus package saved 3 million to 4 million jobs.
The unemployment rate of 9.8 percent is 32 percent higher than the 7.4 percent rate it was before Obama was inaugurated, and it has steadfastly stood at that level throughout his term.Meanwhile, corporate profits have jumped back to near-historical highs, and banks are hoarding an extra $1 trillion in reserve at the Fed..
Health Insurance
There were 59 million Americans without any health insurance in 2010, up from 46.3 million, or about 15.4% of the population in 2009, which was a slight increase from 2008. That 27% increase in 2010 is the highest per year under any presidency...
Meanwhile, the top 10 health insurance company CEOs bagged $228 million in 2009, up nearly 162% from the year before Obama took office, and they anticipate even more for 2010—and yet there are no major audits of their business practices on the horizon.
Obama’s economic priorities are primarily benefiting a small and influential part of the population, but they have not provided the rest of the country with anything to be optimistic about this holiday season.
http://socialistworker.org/blog/critical-reading/2011/01/02/economic-priorities-obama-admi 
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