Are You Better Off Now Than You Were Two Years Ago?
On October 28, 1980, President Ronald Reagan looked into the camera for closing remarks during his last debate with Jimmy Carter and said:
Next Tuesday is election day. Next Tuesday all of you will go to the polls. You will stand there in the polling place and make a decision. I think when you make that decision it might be well if you ask yourself, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”
While I don’t know what went through the minds of the millions of television viewers who heard Reagan ask that question that night, by the time they entered the voting booth a week later a clear majority of them had decided the answer to Reagan’s question was: “No, we are not better off.” The results of the presidential election of 1980 proved that Reagan had done a masterful job of drawing attention to the disaster Carter wrought upon our economy, our military, our energy supplies, our national morale, and on and on.
And though we’re just over halfway through President Obama’s first term in office, it seems all Americans should ask themselves if we’re better off now than we were two years ago.
The answer is just as straightforward: No, we’re not. Unemployment is at 9% and our national debt is over $14,000,000,000,000. According to Reuters, our floundering economy is only poised to get worse. Obama’s answer to the unemployment and incomprehensible debt is to raise taxes to the tune of $2 trillion: that’s “$1 trillion in new taxes on wealthier Americans (and small businesses)” and another trillion sought “in higher tax revenues by reducing tax breaks and subsidies.”
Gasoline, which was $1.81 a gallon when Obama took office, has jumped to over $4 more than once. (It’s now hovering around $3.70.) Throughout this more than 100% jump in gasoline prices, Obama maintained his offshore drilling moratorium and prevented us from drilling for more oil in the western states and Alaska.
Obama’s arrogance is so great that when a citizen asked him how average Americans were supposed to make ends meet with gas prices so high, Obama simply “suggested that the gentleman consider getting rid of his gas-guzzling vehicle.”
We don’t even have to revisit Obama’s quasi-government takeovers of GM, Chrysler, and a myriad of banking institutions to understand why our national morale is low. It’s so low, in fact, that columnists and bloggers grasping for a suitable analogy now compare today’s political and social climate to the malaise we endured under Carter.
And if you think the comparison to the Carter years is a stretch, just consider the irony of one of the other questions Reagan asked as he looked into that camera in 1980:
Is it easier for you to go and buy things in the store than it was four years ago?
Well? Is it easier for you to go and buy things in the store than it was two years ago?
Reagan wanted the people listening to him to know that it was time to make a choice: that America faced a perilous future unless we changed course at that moment in time. And I dare say we will face an even more dire future now than we would have then, if we don’t determine to change our course in 2012.
ALSO READ: “Herman Cain: Barack Obama Is Not a Patriot.”
And what is your reaction to this article?
http://shredoftruth.com/component/content/article/34-front-page-news/118-chrysler-pays-back-loan-proves-president-obama-right.html
OK,….it looks a slight of hand trick.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/05/truth-behind-chrysler-s-fake-auto-bailout-pay-back
As my mother used to say; If it looks too good to be true, it usually is.”
Now, how much has this cost the tax payer so far?
It is no wonder that Chrysler is doing well: it stiffed its obligations to its bondholders whose billions in claims were tossed out by Obama. The recovery, if there is one, is on the backs of its former bondholders. Ditto for GM’s bondholders such as myself. The devil dwells in the details. By the way if Chrysler and GM went BK the result would have been the same except the bondholders would own the companies, not the UAW.
This shameful article is naked racism. You are a bigot.
alice what the hell is racist about pointing out the truth?? I can tell you I am a hell of a lot worse off than I was three years ago. but then I am not on food stamps nor do I get wellfare. quit sounding like an IDIOT with that racism bull shit,
Thank you for your comment, Alice. You neatly highlight our problem: The adults are trying to fix our problems, while you angry, spoiled little children shout nonsense from the sidelines.
I call Loki troll.
Alice, I am going to take your comment as very good sarcasm and say bravo. And remember, it’s all Bush’s fault!
Hey Alice, that tired old tactic may have worked in 2008, but nobody is buying it in 2012. The Republicans are going to take it to your guy like never before next year, so be prepared to have Obama actually have to DEFEND his pitiful record. Now THAT I’ve got to see. As Obama said himself in 2008, “You can put lipstick on a pig and it’s still a pig.” Sort of sums up his whole administration, don’t you think?
There are some very funny conservative forums on the internet, such as the Ace of Spades Headquarters (www.ace.mu.nu). I’d suggest you guys read there a bit to exercise your humor-recognition skills.
Oh, we all have a sense of humor, but I’m afraid we’re developing certain reflexes about certain types of posters.
Ace os spades is a great site but for funny and lots of updates “Moonbattery” is the best. Keeps track of the daily absurd things libs are upto in life.
Sorry. Miss Wigglebottom is not engaging in sarcasm or humor. She really means it. She is a known crazed Lefty. Some of her screeds are breathtakingly obtuse. She just has not been around much lately. Must be off her meds again.
Marc, you’re kidding, right? There really IS somebody named “Alice WIGGLEBOTTOM”? I figured that had to be a joke for sure! As if the name wasn’t foolish enough, the comment was even more absurd!
Alice, oh, Alice! How I’ve longed for you!
Meet me in front of NAACP headquarters and I’ll whisper sweet misogyny into your ear!
I didn’t know Carter was black…
Alice, honey!
I know why you use that moniker “wigglebottom”.
When you get going at a fast pace, does it throw you off your feet if you try to stop fast?
IF THERE IS ANY SIGN OF RACISM HERE, IT IS IN THE COMMENT MADE BY ALICE. IF YOU BELIEVE THE ARTICLE, OR NOT, THERE IS NOTHING THERE THAT LEADS ONE TO BELIEVE THE WRITER IS RACIST. PRINT THE TRUTH AND YOU ARE RACIST. IS THAT WHAT AMERICA IS COMING TO?
Carter was white. How can that be racism? If Oboma has done a better job of destroying our economy, our military strength, and our morale in half the time as Carter, how is that racism? For liberals, any time there is no adequate answer to an issue, the race card is used. Unfortunately, when a conservative black person is the target it is the left who is lobbing insults and calling it everything except racism.
Alice, Ever take a look at Herman Cain. If you don’t like him, are you a racist? or just an insane liberal?
Alice, this article is anything but racist. The simple fact is that Obama, his agenda, his policies, and the people that he has placed in positions of authority and decision making are nothing but abject failures and traitors to the American way of life! You suffer from “Ostrich Syndrome” and the simple fact that you accuse of racism demonstrates your complete lack of comprehension regarding the issues and what is really going on in America. Please do all of us a favor, and do not post on these forums because your comments are as asinine as they are useless. It’s a shame that the first semi black president is so manifestly unequipped to rule the country but it’s not because of his skin color, its because he is incompetent, manipulative, socialist, dishonest, and anti-American in every way. Alice it would seem that you are the actual racist here because you ignore the issues and point to something that is a non sequitur i.e., it does not follow that the reason everyone here hates Obama is because he is black, it’s because he is incapable of leading our nation with any degree of excellence or profundity. So please, get your head out of the sand and stop playing the racist card because it’s tiresome, manifestly false, divisive, and does not help to further any kind of meaningful dialogue.
quit that racism crap! It’s FACTS darlin’–cold hard facts! get off of your racism kick-that is the only ploy that the dems can pull out of thier butts!
Although I highly doubt that Alice wishes her comments to be taken seriously, I think the asburdity they represents opens a door which gives me the opportunity to point out how racism is never far from the minds of the left. Hawkins has only recited the things Obama has done or not done: nothing more, nothing less. Yet the best response an Obama supporter can give in return is “you’re a racist”? Ridiculous.
I’ve always viewed Alice Wigglebottom as a satirist. That’s because I prefer to see those posts as satire, rather than the sad fact that there are lefty loons who actually think that way.
Alice,
I’m not sure how someone can take proven facts based on Obama’s record and spin the argument into racism. It’s the usual liberal bait and switch of misdirection to avoid the facts. Fact is….this president makes Carter look like a conservative by comparison. I can’t imagine any American who loves this country seeing him as a positive influence. He has received F marks on everything he has touched. So again, as the article states, “Are you better off then you were two or four years ago?” The answer, if you’re not on the welfare payment plan compliments of the American taxpayer, should be a resounding NO!
Alice, you can’t be serious? If you are for real it is odd you call someone that you disagree with, a bigot. A bigot is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of any opinions differing from their own. So Alice, what does that make you?
My reaction is they didnt make enough to pay back loans just borrowed it from someone else dont get me wrong i am happy about that,the new loan has less interest and someone else besides taxpayers taking the risk but dont think for a instant they made enough to pay this back but maybe with less interest and more time they will get it payed back but it wasnt really payed back just borrowed from someone else
My ideal cabinet would be headed by Bolton Sec. of State, Netanyahu Sec. of Defense, Cain Sec. of Treasury, Bachmann Attorney General, …
Now, who could we hire to make it so?
Netanyahu is already employed full time in another job – Prime Minister of Israel – so I just don’t see how you can hope to get him until he leaves office.
How about Herman Cain/Condelise Rice
Gary…
Have you heard of or seen Allen West? This guy is a retired Lt. Col. and I would LOVE to see him run for president! Oh yeah, so you all don’t think I’m racist, I’m white and West is black. He is one of the most intelligent men I’ve EVER heard speak. He is truly “Conservative Gold!!”……Now, who for Vice President? Sarah, maybe?!? Ideas??
The best ticket to present the Democrats could well be a Cain-West ticket. Two Conservative blacks going against the half-black Obama…the Democrats would be fit to be tied by this one-two punch.
Alice:
Thank you so much for your opinion. I was feeling really depressed this morning about the state of the economy, lack of jobs, etc. You changed all that with your opinion. I almost rolled on the floor in laughter. Please keep providing us with your hysterical opinions.
The paid “This article is racist” trolls are here.
And here’s the paid trolls’ new head honcho…
Republicans will win easily in 2012 if they ask the question, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” Now all we need is the messenger. Whoever he or she is, I hope they are as clear, concise, and as likeable as Ronald Reagan. Oh yes, they need to be a dedicated conservative, too. That will drive the liberal Democrats insane. I can’t wait.
One would think that trolls assigned to this forum, would at least be “troll qualified.” At one time, back in the beginning, they had a wee-bit of leftist-type talent.
Now, it seems that any resident of a half-way house will do, as long as they can use the much-abused word “racist” as part of their hallucinations.
She has some real cheek, signing a name like Wigglebotton.
If the lame-stream media is not “undefeatable,” unless we are willing to continue believing it.
Consider how many leftist newspapers and magazines are today in dire financial straits.
All they need is to finally nudge them into past history. People have stopped buying such printed matter. Obviously, a huge part of the leftist establishment doesn’t read, these papers and magazines have only to print one page of a huge headline, that’s about all the leftists will take time for.
They’re hooked on TV, but people of the right are also. What we have to do is stop viewing the “alphabet” TV networks.
That’ll hurt network ratings even more, advertisers will have second thoughts about wasting their money, and those networks will be hurt, deservedly so.
There are good talk-radio Conservative programs every day, Fox News keeps faith, it is not leftist, we have alternatives without patronizing what powers leftist lies and distortions.
Yes, and she has become the butt of our jokes.
Now that’s subtle, and funny as hell. a lot of “cheek”. I love it!
I keep remembering a comment someone wrote into PJM months ago concerning the electability of Palin. The comment was, “if Palin is unelectable, the main stream media is undefeatable.” I’m thinking that Comrade Obama is re-electable only if the msm is undefeatable. There is where our main battle is to be fought, which I guess is what this website and others are all about.
STR;
That was my statement. Thank you for reposting it. It defines the battle we are engaged in today.
Indeed; The media thinks it has the U.S. electorate by the gonads.
If the lunatic left media had attacked O’Bama in the same fashion as they did Palin or G.W. Bush, O’Bama wouldn’t have lasted his first year.
O’Bama and his czars and media talk in jive, pig latin, and buzz words, and they think no one else is intelligent enough to understand them.
Say it with billboards!
I don’t measure better offed-ness in terms like what food or gasoline or energy is costing these days, which, on all counts, is looking to increase even more.
I measure better-offedness in terms like whether or not a foreign policy is riduculous, on whether or not almost a trillion of my money has been tossed down the drain (and eager for more), on whether or not a speechifying narcissist knows what the hell he’s talking about as he galavants about the planet, self-righteously bloviating.
Or in terms like whether or not a President of the United States is genuinely interested in America and Americans’ interests, things like securing energy independence and not relying on shifting Arab sands or whether he prefers to give pie in the sky speeches about green energy which, as of now, isn’t up to the task. Or whether or not a United States President is interested in enforcing United States law or do his appointees & cronies pick and choose which laws to enforce and openly thwart individual states that try to enforce the law.
I measure better-offedness in whether or not legislation is jammed down my throat through fiat, using a legislative process that this President himself had said was completely inappropriate for comprehensive social legislation.
For all these, and a lot of other ways I measure better-offedness, I’m way (way!) worse off.
And embarrassed that we’ve sunk so low as to have this crowd allegedly representing us in the nation’s capital.
Is my family better off now than in 2010? Or 2008? Two words – He** No!
DD is on WIC and her husband is “working” but making just above minimum wage and they are on medicaid for her pregnancy, (not everything is “covered” by the individual Blue Cross/Blue Shield insurance we are paying for them).
Four years ago, he had an apartment and was making triple what he is making today, but the factory “moved off-shore” in 2010, and everyone was “laid-off.” His father had owned a business, key word “HAD.” Taxes and fees (Federal and State) got so high he could not operate and went into bankruptcy.
My husband still has a job, but all the work I did to get teaching credentials was in the end a waste of time and money — no schools are hiring, and there is a glut of “college educated professionals” to take substitute teaching openings.
His masters degree, is doing him no good either, all promotions are “frozen.”
Better off? No, we are not better off.
No.
My finances are the same as two years ago but my bills are higher. My taxes are higher but the value of the land and house are the same as two years ago.
I now fear the Goverment more than the un-named enemy.
I now sense a country adrift in confusion.
I hear White House staffers are called racist names by the white houses current residents and I am sad but not surprised.
Pick a metric, any metric, and you’ll find indicators that point to the greatest failure in modern American history: the Obama administration.
High unemployment, record numbers of Americans below the poverty level and on food stamps for the first time, record national debt, a pitiful GDP with a growth rate that cannot sustain the country, an economic travesty that is responsible for the greatest waste of human capital ever known, the list is seemingly endless.
Anyone with two funtioning neurons to rub together will answer “No” to the question. We have a great opportunity to reverse this course in 2012. Will the country awaken from its slumber? Will those who mistakenly voted for Obama realize what they have done and take responsibility for their actions at the polls in 2008? Will we finally begin to purge the “proud progressives” from office and replace them with honest Americans who revere our Constitution and the values of freedom, personal responsibility, and small government that were once the hallmark of this nation?
Will we survive as a nation? That’s not too serious a question to be asked. As Ronald Reagan reminded us, “Liberty and freedom are never more that one generation away from extinction.” Will we rise from the political and moral malaise that we’ve degenerated into? Will we allow a decidedly leftist and anti-American media to “guide” us, or will we start to think for ourselves again and question those who would try to “change the world” instead of truly informing us with honest and accurate facts?
These questions and many more will be answered in 2012. I hope for my country that we answer them correctly. Our failure to do so will dictate our national course for another generation.
What will we do?
As to the better offness comment, there is another sense of being better off: that is how much freedom do you still have relative to a year or so ago? Is it worth having all the government goodies that make our entitled comrades feel so secure when the cost is less freedom to those who actually care?
And I think Alice is a plant….just stirring things up! She did a great job!
Not a very smart move.
There are a ton of things Obama is soft on, especially among centrists like myself, but our country is better off in many ways too. Most of all, we’re actually headed in the right direction, whereas we were headed into a hole a few years ago, that no president could have avoided, and polling shows the American people don’t blame EITHER the GOP or Obama for gas prices… they blame oil companies and OPEC nations.
With Osama gone, my stock portfolio up, the fear of a depression past, I for one am better off than 2/4 years ago. If we are blessed to have President Obama four more years after the next election maybe some of the doom and gloom sayers will also agree.
Troll
You are joking aren’t you? If not you are lying!
The “are you better off” approach is too early, and not enough, for many reasons.
For one thing, much will change in 18 months, and we can rest assured that the criminals will be using the full power of the most powerful government of all time to create a one-time improvement at the cost of impoverishing any number of future generations. They can manipulate GNP, they can manipulate unemployment figures, they can manipulate cpi; all of which they have already done, but we ain’t seen nuthin yet to what they are willing to do. In 2008, they were willing to spark a crisis that came close to destroying the world financial system. They will be willing to go even further this time. As one small example, who do you think the Saudi’s, Russians, Iranians, Venezuelans and Libyans want to the next potus? Rhetorical question of course. Look for gasoline to be under $2 by Nov 1, 2012.
But beyond that, there will be many Americans who in fact are better off. All of the criminals’ cronies, for a few million. Of course, they will be the ones who receive the publicity. The 20%+ of Americans who aren’t employed…not so much. And that doesn’t include the bald-faced lies. The make believe media will be in full-throated praise of the economic master of the universe…that’s guaranteed, no matter what condition the economy is in.
But even beyond that is the fact that the greater tragedy is below the surface. Even if the mbm had a tiny desire to tell the truth, they aren’t really capable of understanding the depth of the problem. The debt is so huge that it’s beyond anybody’s experience. Nobody understands how long a service economy can endure. Nobody understands the fundamental damage to our educational system. Nobody understands the impact of the fundamental destruction of the country’s belief system. Basically, the criminals have created a class of serfs in waiting, converted a class of self-reliant family people into a class of people who can be tipped into oblivion with a short series of disasters, and a re-ascendant class of aristocrats who create nothing but feed of the labor of the dying middle, but more importantly, off the future labor of 95% of our descendants.
These things might, but also might not, show up in the overly simplified “are you better off” approach. The underlying destruction to the underpinnings of the country is so huge that 99% can’t comprehend it and certainly won’t admit it to themselves. To admit it would be to say that as a country, we have to track back 100 years, because of just 60 years of subversion capped by 3 years of marxist rule.
“The underlying destruction to the underpinnings of the country is so huge that 99% can’t comprehend it and certainly won’t admit it to themselves. To admit it would be to say that as a country, we have to track back 100 years, because of just 60 years of subversion capped by 3 years of marxist rule.”
Bingo Proreason. Sadly, with the high levels of ignorance and reality avoidance in our country, plus the general lack of moral backbone,prospects for turning this around are not good. Exit strategy planning time.
1. 40m Americans on foodstamps. Historic.
2. Record bankruptcies. Historic.
3. Record foreclosures. Hiatoric.
4. Ruined real estate market.
“Who are you going to believe? President Obama or your own lyin’ eyes?”
Are You Better Off Now Than You Were 3 Years Ago?
According to this list, it’s not even CLOSE! Canyou imagine how crazy the media would be going if this were under a Republican president…..
FORECLOSURES ‘ASTRONOMICALLY HIGH’
Sale of seized homes at 28% — 6 X normal…
JOBLESS RISE AGAIN: 424,000…
UPDATE: GDP 1.8%…
Unemployment UP to 9% as of May 5, 2011 (wasn’t the “Stimulus” supposed to keep it below 8? shhhhhhh!)
SHOCK: More than 25% of homes in USA ‘underwater’…
Reports of Mortgage Fraud Reach Record…
The first-quarter GDP growth rate plunged to 1.8 percent, a steep change from the previous quarter’s middling 3.1 percent growth rate.
Even more ominously, imports increased by 4.4 percent vs. a 2010 fourth quarter decrease of 12.6 percent, and exports hit their lowest number (a 4.9 percent growth rate) since mid-2009.
Personal consumption expenditures dropped from fourth quarter’s 4 percent growth rate to 2.7 percent.
Federal government spending dropped 7.9 percent after staying nearly even in the fourth quarter. National defense spending dropped 11.7 percent. That drop in spending explains why previous growth rates had been artificially inflated. It also explains why jobs have not returned.
Home values fell three percent in the first quarter of this year, marking a pace of decline not seen since 2008 when the housing recession was at its worst
Nearly 75% of homes in the US lost value from Q1 2010 to Q1 2011. That’s up from 69% the quarter before.
Negative equity hit a brand new high of 28.4%.
Foreclosure re-sales hit a brand new high, representing 23.7%.
Meanwhile, the supply of distressed home continues to be massive. 2 million homes are in the foreclosure process, with another 1.5 million seriously delinquent.
ECONOMY SLOWS, INFLATION GROWS…
Investors flee greenback; silver hits all-time high, gold sets new record…
GALLUP: U.S. confidence plunges, only 27% say economy is growing…
WAL-MART: Our shoppers are ‘running out of money’…
JOBLESS CLAIMS 429,000…
Dollar tumbles to all-time low vs. Swiss franc…
Biggest US airlines have combined 1Q loss over $1B…
Obama’s broken promise: I’ll help jobless blacks…
IMF: AGE OF AMERICA NEARS END
Gas price nears record;Obama dodges blame with help of media: Only 3 of 280 network stories connect to WH…
Dollar’s Decline Speeds Up…
Gas prices rise for 34th straight day…
NYTCBSNEWS POLL: Nation’s Mood Lowest in Years…
Percent of people working lowest since ’83…
JOBLESS CLAIMS RISE; INFLATION PRESSURE GROWS
New ‘ghost towns’ rise across the U.S.
Gasoline cost to jump $700 for avg household…Gas Prices Up 67% Since Obama President…
WELFARE NATION: ONE-THIRD OF ALL WAGES ARE HANDOUTS…
Government posts biggest monthly deficit ever…
Kathleen Sebelius Admits The Obamacare Books Were Cooked
Half the world is on fire. Obama suggests high speed train.
British Army readies for mission at 24 hours’ notice..Obama goes golfing…AGAIN, and again and again…..
Biden opens budget talks — leaves country…
PAPER: Gas prices headed toward $4 a gallon BUT Obama admin appeals oil drilling ruling…
REPORT: Enforcement of immigration laws could have spared nun’s life…
SHOCK REPORT: GM sells just 281 Chevy Volts in February, NISSAN only moves 67 Leafs…
Pump prices jump another 4 cents — overnight..
Layoffs At Pre-Recession Level; Job Openings Down 30%…
GALLUP: Unemployment Hits 10.3% in February…
WSJ: Dollar’s Reign ‘Near an End’…
TIME MAG: YES, AMERICA IN DECLINE…
‘America’s timid foreign policy’…President Obama’s timid foreign policy is an embarrassment for a global superpower
Companies concerned about rising fuel costs…
Carter II? PAPER: US gov’t chartered boat too small to rescue stranded Americans…
USA WILL DROP TO WORLD’S ’3RD LARGEST ECONOMY’…
Home Prices Hit Post-Bust Lows in Major Cities..
WAL-MART sales woes deepen…
SHOWDOWN: Political Fight Over Unions Escalates…
Federal, state and local debt exceeds size of entire economy…
OIL PRICES RISE 9% IN A DAY
4 Americans on hijacked yacht dead off Somalia…
Gas prices skyrocket; up 55 cents from year ago… Oil prices surge; Brent crude hits 2 1/2-year high…
GALLUP: Unemployement hits 10%…
Inflation Continues to Creep Higher;
Jobless Claims Up…
Ratings Downgrades Loom for Cash-Strapped States…
DEBT NOW EQUALS ENTIRE US ECONOMY
GALLUP: Unemployment at 10.3%…
Housing Crash Hitting Cities Once Thought to Be Stable…
Home Foreclosures Rise in January, More Seen…
Get ready for higher food prices…
Labor Force Participation Plunges To Fresh 26 Year Low…
GALLUP: Unemployment Up in January to 9.8%…
TEX NEEDS POWER FROM MEX TO KEEP LIGHTS ON
Oil price shoots above $103…
WSJ: 43 Million Use Food Stamps
Census Department: 11 Percent of Homes Vacant
Applications for jobless benefits increased by 51,000 to 454,000 in the week ended Jan. 22, Labor Department figures showed today.
New-home sales in 2010 lowest in 47 years…
Jobless Rise in 20 States as Workers Still Laid Off…
Housing Starts Fall to Lowest In Year…
Gallup finds 19% of Americans satisfied with the way things are going in the United States at this time — essentially on par with the lowest level of the past 12 months, 17%, registered in December.
A year-end surge in gasoline prices ratcheted up consumer inflation expectations to their highest in more than two years, according to the latest data from Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan. The surveys’ preliminary January reading on the overall consumer sentiment slipped to 72.7, below 74.5 in December. It fell short of a 75.4 reading predicted by economists polled recently by Reuters. Consumers’ current mood deteriorated with average gasoline prices stuck above $3 a gallon.
Initial U.S. Jobless Claims Rose More Than Forecast to 445 ,000. Today’s figures follow a report last week showing the U.S. added fewer jobs than forecast in December.
CBS POLL: 77% say cut spending; only 9% say raise taxes…
For the second year in a row, the U.S. has fallen in economic freedom, from a score of 78.0 to 77.8, at a time when more than half of the countries around the world experienced an increase in their economic freedom ranking. The U.S. currently ranks as the 9th freest country economically, but its score puts it in the mostly free, only the second best category to be in.
Home values have fallen 26 percent since their peak in June 2006, worse than the 9-percent decline seen during the Depression years between 1928 and 1933, Zillow reported.
The US economy created fewer jobs than forecast last month, disappointing investors. Several prominent economists have portrayed a grim outlook for the ailing economy in the US, saying the recovery remains a long way off even more than a decade.
The only other downturn since the Depression to see similarly large wage cuts was the 1981-82 recession. But the latest downturn is already eclipsing that one. Unemployment has stood above 9% for 20 straight months longer than the early 1980s stretch and is likely to remain above that level for most of 2011,putting downward pressure on wages.
Anguish and Anxiety: Officials Mull Inflation as a Fix…
Dollar slide continues
Private Sector Hiring in Sept. Falls 39,000
Middle Class Slams Brakes on Spending
Food Stamp Recipients at Record 41.8 Million Americans.
GOLDMAN SACHS: Economy ‘fairly bad’ or ‘very bad’ over next 6 months
New Yorkers’ Income Falls for 1st Time in 70 Years
World Economy ‘Decoupling From USA
1 in 7 Americans lives in poverty
Taxpayer losses from seizures of Fannie, Freddie may top $400 billion
US workers poverty reaches 50-year high
Audit: $2 million per stimulus job
U.S. Consumer Confidence Unexpectedly Declines
COLIN POWELL: OBAMA HAS LOST TOUCH
Wall Street’s Engines of Profit Are Freezing Up
POLL: USA Loses No. 1 to Brazil-China-India Market
Worst August For Stocks Since 2001
Close to 10 million receive unemployment insurance, nearly four times the number from 2007. Caseloads peaked at nearly 12 million in January, 2010, the highest numbers on record. Many millions more have simply dropped off the roles.
More than 40 million people get food stamps, an increase of nearly 50% during the Obama economic downturn
More than 50 million Americans are on Medicaid. Virtually every Medicaid director in the country would say that their current enrollment is the highest on record
Government anti-poverty programs that have grown to meet the needs of recession victims now serve a record one in six Americans and are continuing to expand
More than 4.4 million people are on welfare, an 18% increase during the Obama recession. As caseloads for all the programs have soared, so have costs. The federal price tag for Medicaid has jumped 36% in two years, to $273 billion. Jobless benefits have soared from $43 billion to $160 billion. The food stamps program has risen 80%,to $70 billion. Welfare is up 24%, to $22 billion. Taken together, they cost more than Medicare.
US Auto Sales May Hit 28-Year Low as DiscountsFlop
RECOVERY BUMMER: Youth employment lowest since 1948…
Don:
But do you have any FACTS to support your position??? Seriously, CLASSIC POST. May I use it on my blog w/ credit to you? Problem is…too many sheeple who simply don’t want to be confused with the facts….
“Are you better off than you were two years ago?”
In two words? Unequivocally NO!
Sorry to hear that Tina so in the next 2012 election make sure all your family friends and anyone else you can convince will vote Obama out of office!
Better off? NO! But, for those who think that I’m racist for saying that because we have a black man in office….well, that’s the best you can do when you don’t have anything to contribute to the conversation. Just call people names and attack the person when you are losing the debate. Sling crap until something sticks has been the Dems. way for years. The father of ideas, back in the 40′s, would be proud of you now. The socialist party stuff…is getting old…O! it is old.
14. BackwardsBoy
Metric where Obama measures up: lying
When “Unexpectedly!” has become a punchline, what do YOU think?
The question is naive! Of course, we are not. Capable young men and women are jobless. They cannot even get a chance to speak to a human being. They must submit resumes and hope for a reply, despite the enormous sums of money spent on the “American Recovery Act”, an act designed to curry favor with the Unions. In the field of foreign affairs whatever credibility the United States once had, it no longer has. We have men and women dying in Afghanistan for absolutely no good whatsoever; none for the United States and none for the rest of the world for that matter. And our President is the man who stood with clenched fist at his side when others present were saluting the flag.
For those who think that things are just fine under Obama, let me make one simple statement.
The numbers now are far worse than early January 2009, when the stock market bottomed out around 6500. The stock market has returned to about 80-85% of its previous high under Bush, but that is based on inflation, because the Fed has been printing trillions of dollars, devaluing our currency. In gold standards, the Market is still very anemic.
Here’s the real rub nothing else has recovered. Unemployment now is higher than it was then. Gas and food prices are far higher. Taxes are higher. We have added yet another war. The list goes on.
For the rest of us, this is exactly what happened during the Great Depression. We’d already hit bottom and were on the way up, when FDR plunged us back into the depths, and it actually got far, far worse. It was never so bad during the Hoover years as during the FDR years, but FDR kept getting re-elected by running against Hoover. Always, there was some excuse as to why the economy was not recovering. Always, it was Hoover’s fault.
Obama is doing the same nonsense, and lots of folks still fall for it. The problem is that folks are not facing the basic fact that things are NOT going well. “Well, there have been so many things, unexpected things, things were worse than we thought.” Bull. You were hired to fix it, and it has only gotten worse. I do not want to hear explanations or excuses. I want you to perform, or I will find someone else.
“unexpected”? If it was unexpected, that means you are incompetent. It does not mean that you are blameless. Why did you not expect it? It is your job to expect it.
“Oil production is up, so it is not the moratorium.” It is only up, because we had some great new finds in North Dakota and shale oil in Texas. It would be up far more, but for the moratorium. By the way, ND and TX are where the jobs are. ND has missed the depression entirely, because of the new oil finds. This would be the case in other states too, but for the moratorium.
But you are right in a way, it is not the moratorium. You have been printing money like crazy, and THAT, more than anything, is why oil is so high. Is oil high when compared to gold, or just compared to the dollar? Just the dollar, and THAT is YOUR fault, Obama.
“Well, businesses are sitting on trillions in capital, and they are also not hiring. They need to step up.” They are not investing or hiring because of you. We predicted this during the ’08 campaign. We said Jon Galt would speak, and he has. Loudly and clearly, he has spoken. Or to mix my metaphors, the goose which lays the golden egg has flown off, lest you gut her to get the still-forming eggs inside.
“Are you better off than you were 4 years ago?”, was about an absolute standard of performance for the Presidency. It meant that there are no excuses, only results. How high or low are you setting the bar? Compared to what?
In the roaring 20′s, during Coolidge’s Presidency, unemployment dropped to 1.8% at one point. Household income grew by 75% during his time in office. This was while Europe was still struggling in the aftermath of WWI. They had the Weimar Republic then, in Germany, and the currency was literally worthless. Russia had become the USSR. The victors were not a whole lot better off. Yet, the USA was soaring with the eagles.
Obama is doing well? Compared to what? Compared to Bush? Nope. Like FDR to Hoover, Obama compares very unfavorably with Bush. Things are simply worse, and there is no sign anywhere that they will get any better. Ever.
During the Great Depression, folks were wondering if they should just resign themselves to the Depression? Was this the way things would always be from now on? Yet they kept voting for that jackass FDR “because they liked him”, because he would talk to them in his radio address every Sunday night. They kept voting the same stupid way and kept getting the same stupid results.
People get the kind of government they deserve. What kind of government, and thus what kind of economy, do you deserve? Or are you just going to vote for Obama “because you like him”?
Sorry. It was meant to be a simple statement. I got inspired… or carried away, if you prefer.
NO. Prices are rising and Obamacare has not even kicked in yet. Gas prices will drive all prices up farther. Inflation is setting in. Our national debt is spinning out of control. We are reverting back to the pre 9/11/01 attitude toward our national security. Illegal immagration is getting worse.
I’m 70 years old and missed the great depression. However, the country is in worse shape that at any time in my lifetime.
Alice, does your bottom wiggle on welfare or are you an ignorant Liberal or both ??
Being a Senior in this country I have lived through many Presidents some good & some not so good, but I have never felt poor until we got Barack Hussein Obama as President. I am hoping that the majority of Americans now see through Mr. Obama’s facade and will vote him out in 2012. Americans deserve better.
Hell no I’m not better off.
I’m happy my wife and I still have our jobs unlike many family and friends. Our house is worth $200k less, raises next to zero, no other job opportunities or promotions to be found, gas and groceries are eating up far more of our budget, the stock market is up a little – almost as much as inflation, when raises do happen it will just inflate us into the higher tax brackets Obama plans to create – without any additional buying power. And my kids… how much of their future earnings have been spent on the stimulus (Democratic payoffs)?
Thanks a lot.
Are things better off? Let’s first note that Obama inherited an economy at rock bottom, so realistically there was no place to go but up. In fact the recession actually ended a few months into Obama’s term before any of his policies would have taken effect. However, the recovery is much shallower than recoveries of the past and the most recent data indicates that this recovery is not being sustained. The GDP, while positive, is not large enough to affect the unemployment rate. Nor do business seem prime for expansion and reinvestment. The housing market is still in the dumps and has not bottomed out yet.
Are things better off? We spent a lot of money on the Democrats stimulus plan. We have vastly increased the national debt. We have a looming Medicare and Social Security crisis that the ruling party seems totally uninterested in tackling, preferring to to demogogue their way to re-election rather than dealing with the problem. The clock is ticking and putting the problem off makes it harder to deal with.
Are things better off? The Stock Market is back up. But the value of the dollar is down. We have more citizens on the public dole than ever before and the problem has become structural. It will take a lot of work to back away from that, work that the current administration is reluctant to do.
But Obama did kill Bin Laden.
Obama is a SEAL? Damn.
President Obama inherited Senator Obama’s economy. Things started going bad in 2007 – when the Democrats took over both houses of Congress. Shame on Bush for not vetoing all their senseless spending.
how can the truth be racist? obumass is supposed to be half white part black and part arab so which are we being racist toward..answer none a bad job is a bad job no matter what or who you are…GROW UP….
I’m a lot better of than I was 2 years ago. Two years ago I was unemployed. Now I have a job, and my net worth has increased by $150,000 because of good returns in the stock market. Being a renter, the collapse of house prices has made be better off; now I can afford to buy something.
Nice post Mr. Obama, but I would point out that being a Senator is not the same thing as being unemployed, well, maybe in your case it was …
Pure. plain and simple…Obummer has spent more and increased our National Debt more than ( A L L ) 43 Presidents before him. YES, since and including George Washinton!! What more evidense do we need?
More, you say. Okay, he has taken more vacations (that’s time off) than any of the previous 43 Presidents.
More… Okay, he is a racist! Might as well use the word where it truely belongs. Obummer is a racist! Oh yeah, so am I. Big deal. Republicans and conservatists only allow the racist word to mean something by objecting to it so vehemently.
Obama is the stud you bought that shoots blanks, so you retire him or make him a steer or send him to the glue factory! 2012 is glue factory time for Obama the dud!
I have to admit that, in 1980, Mr. H and I actually were better off than four years previously. That’s because in 1979, he left the military for a civilian job, and I got a job that paid similarly well, and we managed to buy a brand new house for the first time in our marriage. None of this was due to anything President Jimmeh Peanut did (well, except for the threats to reduce military benefits).
However, now that we are retired on fixed incomes, despite having raised our children and contemplated a decline into golden ageism, I can definitely say that NO! WE ARE NOT BETTER OFF! The home we struggled and sacrificed for is now worth less than we paid for it (FTR, it is not the home we bought in 1980). Our retirement pensions are threatened. Gas, electricity, and food are high and rising higher. Our children are contemplating no retirement at all, and God only knows what kind of future our grandchildren face.
Above and beyond all that, every value I have ever held in trust from my ancestors is being denigrated and called into question. Among these, I number the responsibility of freedom, rather than the privilege; duty to my country; the honor of my family, many of whom willingly served in the military to defend America (including more than a few who fought to secede from it, but pledged their allegiance in dignified loss); my religious faith; my belief in the rule of law; and the opportunity offered by my country for everyone to succeed according to their abilities and desires (placing ability before desire).
Everything the Obama administration, AND the present political class, AND the so-called educators of this country, offer is nothing short of a return to a kind of dim, gray, sovietized feudalism.
Well,this past Jan I lost just short of $100 combined to fed wh taxes and medicare…..Hell no I am not better off DOLLAR went down prices went up no jobs except government jobs! Gas prices is up through the ROOF! Congradulations
Jimmie Carter you are no longer the WORST PRESIDENT anymore!! OH! I lost over
$2Hk in my savings HELL NO I am not better off!! Multiply mine by 100 millions
who have lost homes and devalued properties and JOBS !!HELL NO we need CHANGE
alright get rid of that socialist crap!!
The New Lost Generation
Lost generations tend to come and go. They generally get lost, find their way and themselves, and move on in life. The most lost, of course, never do find an exit and remain in the Valley of the Lost for most or all of their existences.
At the risk of overly dramatizing the situation, America is experiencing what some are calling a new lost generation, a generation which is unique in that the plight of the affected is not only not of their own making but shows no signs it will end in their lifetimes.
The original “Lost Generation” of post-World War One, the era of the Jazz Age when writers such as Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Dos Passos and a various others began to express their jaded views of life and society in their novels, was supplanted by various lost pretenders but today we have a unique breed.
They are lost not because of emotional and physical injuries wreaked on them by war or by the drug culture or other factors but by a national economy which has yet to reflect any substantive recovery from what is now being termed the “Great Recession” chiefly as an excuse for the failed policies visited upon them by President Barack Hussein Obama and the Federal Reserve.
Nevertheless, lost or not, the young in entreprenurial America have something going for them their elders do not, their youth from which hope springs eternal.
Ron Brownstein capsulized the root issue of the dilemma facing the new lost generation in his article, “Upside Down,” subtitled, “Why millennials can’t start their careers and baby boomers can’t end theirs” in the National Journal: “It’s hard to say this spring whether it’s more difficult for the class of 2011 to enter the labor force or for the class of 1967 to leave it.” In brief, the Boomers can’t retire so the Millenials can’t take their jobs. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=4790)