Congratulations President Barack Obama on your landslide victory!

News Flash

Posted November 15, 2008

President-elect Obama has made history as the first black and white American president. That's a monumental achievement. But his greatest challenge awaits.

When all the Americans who swept him to victory discover that not only will he be unable to deliver on most of his campaign promises, but that he will have to raise taxes on most Americans, his...popularity could rival that of President Bush.

To mask this, President Obama might rely on inflation. Historically, the real rate of inflation has averaged about 7% for the past 30 years. If the middle class had kept up with inflation, the low end of the middle class today would earn almost $100,000 per year. But the real middle class today earns only $35,000 to $55,000 per year.

In other words, through what some pundits call "stealth inflation," the American middle class has been robbed of more than half of its income.

President Obama has a choice. He can perpetuate this or he can come clean. He can tell the American people how poor they really are. Or he can hide behind stealth inflation.

If he comes clean, then he might turn out to be the man of change he claims to be. Time will tell.