I wanted to respond to this silly commentary in the WSJ, The Inequality President, claiming that Obama has fueled inequality, but never managed to do it. So I'm glad someone else (S.M. at The Economist) took up the cause:

Growth and inequality, by S.M., Democracy in Action, The Economist: The Wall Street Journal is deeply unhappy with Barack Obama’s recent speech on the economy at Knox College in Galensburg, Illinois. The rising inequality in Americans’ incomes that Mr. Obama bemoaned last week, the Journal claims, is a direct result of his administration’s policies...

The Journal is right that the middle class has seen little benefit from the modest recovery... But is it true that “Obamanomics” is to blame for the plight of the middle class? ...

A pair of disingenuous arguments fuel the Journal’s claim that Mr Obama’s policies have put a brake on the recovery. Here is the first:

The food stamp and disability rolls have exploded, which reduces inequality but also reduces the incentive to work and rise on the economic ladder.

The Onion has exposed the oddity of this proposition as well as anyone, and recent research into the relationship between the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and work incentives belies the Journal’s claim. It stands to reason that a few hundred dollars in food stamps for you and your family every month would not turn you into a beach bum or deter you from searching for a job. ...

More to the point, in the mid-2000s about 96% of people who worked before receiving food stamps continued to work after entering the program. So helping people put food on the table does not seem to contribute to unemployment and does not, according to available evidence, hamper economic growth.

The Journal’s second warrant for the claim that Mr Obama's policies are anti-growth is equally weak:

Mr. Obama's record tax increases have grabbed a bigger chunk of affluent incomes, but they created uncertainty for business throughout 2012 and have dampened growth so far this year.

This bald assertion makes little sense. Uncertainty may have plagued the business community in the run-up to the fiscal cliff, but since the year-ending deal to very modestly increase tax rates on the highest earners, there have been no real surprises. ...