After months spent moving from one crisis to another President Barack Obama is hoping to turn the nation's attention toward repairing the economy with a major address in Galesburg, Illinois, according to USA Today.
In his second term President Obama has had to deal with a scandal in the Internal Revenue Service, the leaking of classified National Security Agency documents, the civil war in Syria and the attempts at immigration reform. Through it all the economy has not improved in the way that the President was hoping so new steps need to be taken.
"There is no question that here in Washington, at least, if not out in the country, there have been a great many distractions from the central preoccupations of the American people, which have to do with the economy," Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, said.
Over the last four years the economy has managed to grow steadily but not at the rate that the Obama administration would like. While home prices and stocks have risen from the low point in 2009 the economic recovery has not been accompanied by large job growth, according to the New York Times.
In his speech on Wednesday President Obama is expected to introduce an economic policy based on prosperity coming from the "middle out" as opposed to trickling down from the top. The theory is that a stronger middle class will speed up economic growth and help create a stronger economy, according to the New York Times.
"Middle-out economics is not only an affirmative description of where growth comes from in the economy, but an inherent criticism of conservative views of where growth comes from in the economy," Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, told the New York Times.
While the economy as a whole began recovering in 2009 things have actually gotten worse for those in the middle class. After adjusting for inflation the median income for American families is five percent lower than it was in 2009; and a staggering eight percent lower than in 2000, according to the Wall Street Journal.
"Over the next several weeks, the President will deliver speeches that touch on the cornerstones of what it means to be middle class in America: job security, a good education, a home to call your own, affordable health care when you get sick, and the chance to save for a secure, dignified retirement," Dan Pfeiffer, an adviser in the Obama administration, said in a statement.
Republicans were more than a little skeptical of President Obama's new plans, according to USA Today.
"It's like deja pivot when it comes to the economy," Kirsten Kukowski, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, said. "Memo to Obama and the White House: Speeches don't create jobs."
