In fact, OWS supporters have lambasted President Obama for suggesting that he is aligned with their movement. Even if they prefer him to a Republican, many frustrated liberals wish he had done more. Many believe that because of his desire to compromise, America remains mired in a hot mess of unemployment and inequality.
This may be true. But it only tells half of the story, a half that is cemented in the past. What about the American Jobs Act? Can we agree that is a good idea?
We would be irresponsible not to pass the American Jobs Act, but it does not address what (I think) OWS is about. For example, one unifying point seems to be that so many Americans are swamped with student loans that they might never be able to pay off. Or, to put it in broader terms, one expects a baseline level of success upon completing higher education. Protesters, many of whom are college-educated and unemployed, feel that they have been swindled. They can hardly contribute to economic growth or invest in their future burdened by such debt. But the American Jobs Act does not address this issue, or higher education at all, except for an allocation of $5 billion to modernize community colleges.
Another key OWS point, that Wall Street caused the financial crisis and escaped without a scratch, is not at all a focus of the American Jobs Act. The government seems not to have held the financial sector responsible or discouraged them from repeating the same sins. The Dodd-Frank financial reform bill has been a flop. Wall Street chiefs and CEOs continue to line their pockets with bonuses and "golden goodbyes." The big banks may be too big to fail, but they aren't too big to be grounded. Wall Street is spoiled rotten, and the parents are too busy bickering to notice or care.
Instead, the American Jobs Act focuses on traditionally blue-collar priorities: providing tax relief for small businesses, investing in public works projects, extending unemployment insurance, and hiring government employees. Many of these initiatives will help the OWS demographic, but they don't really get to the point.
In the next few months, we will see whether President Obama and OWS can form a powerful alliance to advance the progressive cause. But the current disconnect raises another fundamental question: why is OWS comprised largely of college graduates, anyway? Most Americans do not have college degrees, and these high school graduates and dropouts are the ones who bear the brunt of the recession. Why are they not camped out in Zuccotti Park? What is happening?
College graduates have every right to be angry with their lot, but the fact remains that their less-educated brethren are more numerous and, on the whole, saddled with deeper economic troubles. The plight of these Americans who would benefit most from the American Jobs Act provide a potential link between President Obama and OWS. For now, they remain a silent majority, a massive yet unseen shadow, the fruits of a 20th-century formula gone sour. Can OWS link arms with this majority and blindside a dysfunctional system?
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