At least that is what is being championed by the Obama mouthpieces on the Sunday talk shows and by the Prez himself in his radio address.

The Prez used his speech to pat themselves on the back.  Obama used his weekly address on Saturday to hail the GDP figures as a vindication of his economic policies. He said that his stimulus package and his “other difficult but important steps” had “put the brakes on this recession.”

“We took unprecedented action,” he continued, “to stem the spread of foreclosures by helping responsible homeowners stay in their homes and pay their mortgages. We helped revive the credit markets and open up loans for families and small businesses. And we enacted a Recovery Act that … provided relief to struggling states to prevent layoffs of teachers and police officers and made investments that are putting people back to work rebuilding and renovating roads, bridges, schools and hospitals.”

Tom Eley observed:

One can only wonder: What country is Obama talking about? State and city governments are slashing jobs and social programs to meet the most crippling budget deficits in modern history. New data released this week reveal that bailed-out banks continue to deny loans to consumers and are hoarding cash more now than at the beginning of the year. As for helping “responsible” homeowners, foreclosures in the first six months of this year hit a record 1.5 million.

The supposed success of his policies, Obama suggested, vindicated his unquestioning support for the profit system and his drive to relieve businesses of their health care obligations to workers. That this is the underlying aim of his health care proposals was made clear by his call for “a health care system that makes it possible for entrepreneurs to innovate and businesses to compete without being saddled with skyrocketing insurance costs.”

All of the policies of the Obama administration have been focused on protecting the interests of a financial aristocracy that exercises a de facto dictatorship over the social and political life of the country. Now, the crisis which the bankers precipitated is being used to effect a permanent reduction in the living standards and social position of working people.

There will be no return to the already depressed wage levels and paltry social benefits that existed prior to the crash of 2008. Instead, a further redistribution of wealth from the bottom to the top will be carried out through the destruction of all that remains of past social gains and an immense intensification in the exploitation of the working class.

Mr. Eley sounds a bit radical in his observations, but I will have to agree with him….I see nothing on Main Street that says we are doing any better now than we were a year ago.  In the same vein, Wall Street is doing just fine, so much so that they are handing bonuses.  The stimulus money is well spent if you happen to be in the Wall Street clic.  Unfortunately, most of us live on Main Street and that road is full of potholes and speed bumps.