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Wolf Blitzer delivers the most important breaking news and political, international, and national security stories of the day. Tune to The Situation Room weekdays 5-7pm ET on CNN.

December 14th, 2011
06:26 PM ET

Paul: Leaders treat budget like a game

Rep. Ron Paul says Congress is playing politics with the budget and will wait to the last minute to avoid a shutdown.


Filed under: 2012 election • Congress • Ron Paul • Wolf Blitzer
BLITZER'S BLOG: If Obama is anti-big business, why has Wall Street done so well?
December 14th, 2011
04:33 PM ET

BLITZER'S BLOG: If Obama is anti-big business, why has Wall Street done so well?

By Wolf Blitzer, CNN

(CNN) - I know that lots of critics accuse President Obama of being anti-big business. Some go so far as to suggest he’s borderline socialist.

The criticism stems from some of his own rhetoric against Wall Street, which occasionally has been over the top – as many of his own big-business Democratic fund-raisers acknowledge.

The critics also point to his desire for more intense oversight and regulation of the big banks and brokerage and investment firms.

Finally, they charge he engages in “class warfare” by insisting that “millionaires and billionaires” should see their tax rates go up. That, the critics say, will merely undermine the “job creators” and weaken the overall economy. They don’t like his efforts to promote greater “wealth distribution.”

I fully understand all the criticism. But here’s my question: If President Obama’s policies have been so anti-big business, why has Wall Street done so well since he took office?

On January 20, 2009, when he was sworn in, the Dow Jones closed at 7,949. Now, it hovers around 12,000. That’s a pretty impressive increase.

In the past year, the value of the U.S. dollar has gone up as well, although the euro crisis has certainly played a significant role in that.

Finally, so many major American corporations are raking in record profits and sitting on trillions of dollars.

In short, big business is doing well even though the overall economy is still sluggish and unemployment is still way too high.

And those latter factors are key to his re-election prospects – not the state of big business.


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Filed under: President Obama • Wall Street • Wolf Blitzer