# "I haven't received a raise in 5 years. Thanks Obama". **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 18, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125 "2012-10-18T14:02:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/1 "2012-10-18T14:02:13Z")
This quote is from a friend of mine. He is a blue collar worker. How would you respond to this? ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/2 "2012-10-18T14:04:40Z")
Tell him to blame his boss. I mean is the President supposed to dictate salary structures for private businesses? I don’t see the connection between him not getting raises and Obama. How does that work? ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/3 "2012-10-18T14:18:16Z")
Tell your friend to stop being lazy and blaming other people for his problems. The guy’s been working there for five years and no one has taken notice of his contributions? Must mean he isn’t making any. He’s lucky to have a job at all, especially considering his victimized attitude. He is not entitled to a raise by virtue of there being a President of the United States. Where would he even get such a silly idea? If Romney is elected he’s not going to get a raise. He’s going to get fired. The job will either be outsourced to China or deregulated to the point that he can be fired on a whim. He will also lose whatever health care coverage he has. But I guess that will be Obama’s fault too. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/4 "2012-10-18T14:20:16Z")
“That’s odd. I’ve gotten several raises in the past 4 years. Have you considered the possibility that you’re a shit worker?” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/5 "2012-10-18T14:21:38Z")
Before I start cheerleading for Obama, I think I’d need to know a wee bit more about the details of your friend’s situation. Don’t you think? ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/6 "2012-10-18T14:23:53Z")
Huh. Who knew your friend works for the President! ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/7 "2012-10-18T14:26:41Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Before I start cheerleading for Obama, I think I’d need to know a wee bit more about the details of your friend’s situation. Don’t you think? You don’t need to cheerlead for Obama. It would not matter who was president - his friend still made a stupid statement,even if the friend is a government worker. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/8 "2012-10-18T14:27:12Z")
My response would begin, “Huh, Joe Biden, I’m surprised at you…” ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/9 "2012-10-18T14:29:24Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Before I start cheerleading for Obama, I think I’d need to know a wee bit more about the details of your friend’s situation. Don’t you think? Like what? Is Obama his boss? Is he working for a government agency? If anything like that were true, do you really think the OP would have omitted it? ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/10 "2012-10-18T14:37:30Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Before I start cheerleading for Obama, I think I’d need to know a wee bit more about the details of your friend’s situation. Don’t you think? He works as a contractor for a huge manufacturing corporation. Has been working for the contractor for 6 years and at the same location. It is my guess that when he asked for a raise, his employer blamed Obama for him not receiving a raise. Go ahead John Mace, bring out the Obama banner. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/11 "2012-10-18T14:46:45Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > He works as a contractor for a huge manufacturing corporation. Has been working for the contractor for 6 years and at the same location. Maybe he should thank his boss and/or President Obama for **still having a job after 6 years.** Nothing personal, but :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/12 "2012-10-18T14:48:19Z")
Pretending anything you say will make a difference: I would gently point out that Obama wasn’t president five years ago. The economy crashed and went into a deep recession around the time he took office. Almost everybody wants the recovery to go faster than it’s going, but unless your friend is a private employee of Barack Obama, the fact that he has not gotten a raise in five years suggests his friend’s industry has problems that go beyond just the broader economic issues, and Obama isn’t responsible for those any more than he’s responsible for the economy crashing before he was elected. And of course there are a lot of factors that influence the economy beyond just the president (and the rest of the political system). ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/13 "2012-10-18T14:50:39Z")
I’d point out that Obama hasn’t gotten a raise in 4 years either. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/14 "2012-10-18T14:53:28Z")
Not to mention, Obama actually did lower tax rates for middle-income folks like your friend. AND he’s reduced the amount of withholding for FICA (I think it was FICA … it was something in withholding) over the past couple of years. Methinks your blue-collar friend actually has more take-home pay than he would have had without the President’s actions. Of course, those who believe our President is a socialist/communist/foreigner who can magically control gas prices and China’s currency would be completely unable to fathom that he’s actually cut income taxes instead. Yet that is the truth. The tax thing, I mean, not the socialist/magic thing. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/15 "2012-10-18T14:54:01Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > If Romney is elected he’s not going to get a raise. He’s going to get fired. The job will either be outsourced to China or deregulated to the point that he can be fired on a whim. He will also lose whatever health care coverage he has. But I guess that will be Obama’s fault too. Well, if he had done a little better at the first debate… ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/16 "2012-10-18T14:57:40Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > He works as a contractor for a huge manufacturing corporation. Has been working for the contractor for 6 years and at the same location. > It is my guess that when he asked for a raise, his employer blamed Obama for him not receiving a raise. > Go ahead John Mace, bring out the Obama banner. In that case, he should ask his employer how, specifically, Obama is responsible. We can’t read his mind. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/17 "2012-10-18T15:06:09Z")
My yearly income has doubled in the last five years, I was wondering who I should thank. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/18 "2012-10-18T15:09:51Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > My yearly income has doubled in the last five years, I was wondering who I should thank. More than doubled for me. Thank you Obama! ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/19 "2012-10-18T15:18:25Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > This quote is from a friend of mine. He is a blue collar worker. How would you respond to this? Join a union. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125/20 "2012-10-18T15:22:51Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > He works as a contractor for a huge manufacturing corporation. Has been working for the contractor for 6 years and at the same location. > It is my guess that when he asked for a raise, his employer blamed Obama for him not receiving a raise. > Go ahead John Mace, bring out the Obama banner. Did his employer explain the connection? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-havent-received-a-raise-in-5-years-thanks-obama/638125.md?page=2)