American dream could become myth

 By Peter Foster, Washington

Mr Obama said the country's struggling middle classes had seen barely any rise in their income over the last decade, and that "upward mobility" was becoming harder and harder to achieve. 

Citing Congressional gridlock over key measures such as immigration, tax reform and the continued failure to invest in education and infrastructure, the President accused Washington of staging an "endless parade of distractions" when it should have been taking action to kick-start growth. 

He warned that if the US continued to "muddle along" then the American dream of betterment - the "founding precept" of each generation being wealthier than the last - would die a slow death. 

"If that's our choice – if we just stand by and do nothing in the face of immense change – understand that an essential part of our character will be lost," he said. 

"Our founding precept about wide-open opportunity and each generation doing better than the last will be a myth, not reality." 

Speaking at Knox College in Illinois, where Mr Obama first outlined his economic vision for a more inclusive America as a newly elected senator in 2005, he said that while the US had recovered from the worst of the economic crisis, the middle classes were still badly hit. 

"Nearly all the income gains of the past ten years have continued to flow to the top 1%," he said, warning of rising social tensions if the issue was not addressed. 

"The average CEO has gotten a raise of nearly 40 per cent since 2009, but the average American earns less than he or she did in 1999." 

Urging Washington to "shake off its complacency and set aside the kind of slash-and-burn partisanship we've seen these past few years", Mr Obama provided a familiar list policy prescriptions, including investing infrastructure, boosting pre-school education and encouraging a renaissance in US manufacturing. 

"Unfortunately, opportunities for upward mobility in America have gotten harder to find over the past 30 years. That's a betrayal of the American idea. And that's why we have to do a lot more to give every American the chance to work their way into the middle class," he said. 

He concluded: "That's why we don't call it John's dream or Susie's dream or Barack's dream – we call it the American Dream. That's what makes this country special – the idea that no matter who you are, what you look like, where you come from or who you love – you can make it if you try." 

Mr Obama's attacks on Washington hit a popular note, coming at a time when US public approval for Congress has sunk to an all-time low, with 83 per cent of Americans disapproving of the job Congress is doing, according to a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. 

However Mr Obama's own poll ratings have also fallen – down to 45 per cent from 48 a month ago – as he struggles to build momentum in his second term, with gun control legislation dead and immigration reforms looking increasingly likely to be blocked by Republican-controlled House. 

And in a sign of the budget fights that lie ahead this autumn, senior Republicans queued up to dismiss the speech even before it was delivered, charging that while the build-up and pre-publicity from the White House had been worthy of Bond film, the speech itself contained old policies and was more like "midday rerun of some '70s B movie". 

"Every time he goes out and gives one of these speeches, it generates little more than a collective bipartisan eye roll," said Mitch McConnell, the Republican senate leader, saying Mr Obama should be at his desk cutting deals, rather than out giving speeches. 

"It's just such a colossal waste of time and energy: Resources that would be better spent actually working with both parties in Congress to grow the economy and create jobs." Telegraph