So, ARE You Better Off than You Were Four Years Ago?

[Ted S]

The question should really be:

Are you better off than your were 5 years ago?

All of these charts that the progressives post begin at the economic low point of the Bush years which was a 5 month period out of 96 that Bush served.  The point being that the starting line is an anomaly.

[kentay]

A metaphor:
A man had a near fatal heart attack and his Surgeon Obama, had saved his life and put him on a regiment of less stress over wars, manufacturing, and the possibility of a good future job, because he has removed the Junk food called Bush from his diet. The man after 3 and a half years has improved his vitality and endurance. In a overheard conversation he was heard saying to another friend, " I thank God for a man like Obama who cares about people like me in the middle class and the poor, by taking us off the Bush junk food that was killing us all."  The surgeon said that to build a lasting life you half to change what caused your near fatal attack with a slow build up, reforms and most of all the removal of those things that made you sick in the first place over several years.  kentay.    

[wbcoleman]

A metaphor:
A man had a near fatal heart attack and his Surgeon Obama, had saved his life and put him on a regiment of less stress over wars, manufacturing, and the possibility of a good future job, because he has removed the Junk food called Bush from his diet. The man after 3 and a half years has improved his vitality and endurance. In a overheard conversation he was heard saying to another friend, " I thank God for a man like Obama who cares about people like me in the middle class and the poor, by taking us off the Bush junk food that was killing us all."  The surgeon said that to build a lasting life you half to change what caused your near fatal attack with a slow build up, reforms and most of all the removal of those things that made you sick in the first place over several years.  kentay.

If we take kentay's metaphor seriously, then the question is whether proper treatment on the part of Surgeon Obama results in maximum response after 3 1/2 years or whether more time is needed.  I would suggest that, for the medical condition kentay chose, 90+% of the cure would have shown up.  After 3 1/2 years such a patient, properly treated, is going to improve about as much as he's ever going to improve.  Frankly, such a patient would improve for, what, 6-12 months?  Then he would, hopefully, plateau.

So is this really our situation?  Has O's 3 1/2 year treatment of the U.S. economy brought about maximal improvement?  ONE SURE AS HELL HOPES NOT, RIGHT??

[clistensprechen]

I find it all amusing that cons want us to forget Dubya cuz Dubya's not running, and then they wanna go back to how we were 4 yearas ago...which brings Dubya into this campaign.

It's worth another chuckle to see the poll question asked about deserving a second term when the question wasn't "who is more deserving of the presidency, Obama or Romney?"  No man deserves the presidency; which candidate has earned the next term is the question.  Facts:

1) Obama spent the last 4 years working on a problem that took 8 years of Republican rule to create. Did he work on it? Yes.

2) Romney is of the party of the previous 8 years that took the entirety of that 8 year period to wreck the economy AND he didn't have any answers to help Dubya rescue the economy 4 years ago.  Did he work on the problem the last 4 years when Obama called for "all hands of both parties on deck"? No--if he has the answers, he held out on America for the last 4 years, so the answer to the question "was he working on it?" is a resounding NOT ONLY NO, BUT HELL NO.  Romney's got nothing for America.

[wbcoleman]

I find it all amusing that cons want us to forget Dubya cuz Dubya's not running, and then they wanna go back to how we were 4 yearas ago...which brings Dubya into this campaign.

It's worth another chuckle to see the poll question asked about deserving a second term when the question wasn't "who is more deserving of the presidency, Obama or Romney?"  No man deserves the presidency; which candidate has earned the next term is the question.  Facts:

1) Obama spent the last 4 years working on a problem that took 8 years of Republican rule to create. Did he work on it? Yes.

2) Romney is of the party of the previous 8 years that took the entirety of that 8 year period to wreck the economy AND he didn't have any answers to help Dubya rescue the economy 4 years ago.  Did he work on the problem the last 4 years when Obama called for "all hands of both parties on deck"? No--if he has the answers, he held out on America for the last 4 years, so the answer to the question "was he working on it?" is a resounding NOT ONLY NO, BUT HELL NO.  Romney's got nothing for America.

I'll concede FOR THE SAKE OF ARGUMENT that Dubya is 100% responsible for the economic mess extant on January 20, 2009.  Therefore.... WHAT??

O got four years to work on the mess before he gets graded on the effort.  He hasn't done the job.  Better, more rational economic policies would have induced a more normal recovery.  Instead, O chose to go the class warfare route which, judging from the comments here and at lincoln's, must feel awfully damned good.  [If you have a job!]

[Ted S]

Obama spent the last 4 years working on a problem that took 8 years of Republican rule to create. Did he work on it? Yes.

Did he fix it? No.  (PS. I'm interested in good results, good intentions don't matter)

Romney is of the party of the previous 8 years that took the entirety of that 8 year period to wreck the economy AND he didn't have any answers to help Dubya rescue the economy 4 years ago.

Romney is indeed of the party that held the Oval Office when the economy bottomed out.  But here's where we differ.  I contend that the problem with Bush is that he was too progressive, too liberal, and not conservative enough.  Leftist policies drove the economy into the ditch.  The steering wheel had both blue and red fingerprints.  The red fingerprints were from those who call themselves conservatives but didn't act like conservatives.

[clistensprechen]

I find it all amusing that cons want us to forget Dubya cuz Dubya's not running, and then they wanna go back to how we were 4 yearas ago...which brings Dubya into this campaign.

It's worth another chuckle to see the poll question asked about deserving a second term when the question wasn't "who is more deserving of the presidency, Obama or Romney?"  No man deserves the presidency; which candidate has earned the next term is the question.  Facts:

1) Obama spent the last 4 years working on a problem that took 8 years of Republican rule to create. Did he work on it? Yes.

2) Romney is of the party of the previous 8 years that took the entirety of that 8 year period to wreck the economy AND he didn't have any answers to help Dubya rescue the economy 4 years ago.  Did he work on the problem the last 4 years when Obama called for "all hands of both parties on deck"? No--if he has the answers, he held out on America for the last 4 years, so the answer to the question "was he working on it?" is a resounding NOT ONLY NO, BUT HELL NO.  Romney's got nothing for America.

I'll concede FOR THE SAKE OF ARGUMENT that Dubya is 100% responsible for the economic mess extant on January 20, 2009.  Therefore.... WHAT??

Therefore your statement is still incorrect. Dubya's PARTY is 100% responsible for the economic mess we're in and his PARTY dug that hole for 8 years while you're claiming he failed although he's had only 4 years to dig out of an 8 year hole.

O got four years to work on the mess before he gets graded on the effort.  He hasn't done the job. 

Nobody can dig out of an 8 year hole in 4 years, but a lot of that 8 year hole began with the Gingrich Revolution during the Clinton years. Contrary to what Limbaugh tells you, Obama is NOT magic.

Better, more rational economic policies would have induced a more normal recovery.  Instead, O chose to go the class warfare route which, judging from the comments here and at lincoln's, must feel awfully damned good.  [If you have a job!]

But that's not what Obama did. Providing health care laws that covers women's health better saves costs and the whole deal is that cons turned an economic concern into a "class warfare" AND a "war on religion" stinkbomb, which is why the GOP's got the label "war on women" on it and it's sticking.

[clistensprechen]

Obama spent the last 4 years working on a problem that took 8 years of Republican rule to create. Did he work on it? Yes.

Did he fix it? No.  (PS. I'm interested in good results, good intentions don't matter)

It can't be fixed in 4 years by just one man, so you're expecting magic.

Romney is of the party of the previous 8 years that took the entirety of that 8 year period to wreck the economy AND he didn't have any answers to help Dubya rescue the economy 4 years ago.

Romney is indeed of the party that held the Oval Office when the economy bottomed out.  But here's where we differ.  I contend that the problem with Bush is that he was too progressive, too liberal, and not conservative enough.  Leftist policies drove the economy into the ditch.  The steering wheel had both blue and red fingerprints.  The red fingerprints were from those who call themselves conservatives but didn't act like conservatives.

Bush was also just a president and what you're talking about is damage that a whole Republican-led Congress committed. Same is true of Obama, and you're expecting of one man to undo the damage done by the entirety of a Party.  You're expecting magic.

[MichaelH]

ARE You Better Off than You Were Four Years Ago?

Yes, WBC  I am and I am so thankful for President Obama leadership  of creating more jobs in less than 4 years than W. Bush did in 8 years. Sept 2, 2008 we were losing 800, 000 Jobs a month, banks were failing and we were headed for another Hover Republican Depression. President Obama is turn the Housing around that the Bush crony capitalist that caused our depression because of deregulation and putting horse men like Brownie in charge, You know that famous Bush quote "you're doing a heck of a job Brownies" as we watched on TV in 2005,  the drowning of thousands of people of color. Osama ben Laden is dead something the BA had been trying to do for the last 8 year. And I am really Proud to know that our Auto Industry is back and many workers are thanking President Obama. Because they know that Romney would have killed their auto jobs just like he tried to do on the housing Industry by saying he let them all go bankrupt and the Investors could buy them at a low price and rent them back to the owners, gee what a compassionate conservative he not. I could go on and on about how exciting it is to have a honest president who concern is the Middle Class and poor instead of greed money and war. Remember next year we will be out of the last war the Bush administration started and didn't pay for. He also got us out of the Iraq lying war the BA started and didn't pay for ether. I am thankful for President Obama and I am looking forward to his next 4 years and the corrections he makes on the left over Bush deregulation and other bills. Maybe even a Supreme Court Justice or two God willing. Thanks For asking the question because I was about to post all the things President Obama has accomplished in less than 4 years, more to come later.    kentay

 :applause:

I know you're joking, Kentay.  You really -- down deep -- know darned well that Obama is a failure.  His policies have led to thousands of unemployed and trying to use HIS figures to claim otherwise is really silly.   

Ha Ha....I'm laughing with you ken...you're pulling our leg. 
Thanks for the laugh...
 :applause: :applause:

[clistensprechen]

Oh geez, Mike--the damage that the Republican Party did to our nation in 8 years plus the Gingrich Revolution years would make 4 years of a Superman administration look like a failure.  :prop:

[wbcoleman]

Therefore your statement is still incorrect. Dubya's PARTY is 100% responsible for the economic mess we're in and his PARTY dug that hole for 8 years while you're claiming he failed although he's had only 4 years to dig out of an 8 year hole.

Nobody can dig out of an 8 year hole in 4 years, but a lot of that 8 year hole began with the Gingrich Revolution during the Clinton years. Contrary to what Limbaugh tells you, Obama is NOT magic.

For someone who claims to be nonpartisan, this is partisan claptrap.  The myth that George Bush caused the financial crisis is nothing more or less than a Democratic talking point.  The financial meltdown did not have a single cause and there was plenty of blame to spread wide and far.  Parroting this, "Bush did it," meme is pure foolishness.

Better, more rational economic policies would have induced a more normal recovery.  Instead, O chose to go the class warfare route which, judging from the comments here and at lincoln's, must feel awfully damned good.  [If you have a job!]

But that's not what Obama did. Providing health care laws that covers women's health better saves costs and the whole deal is that cons turned an economic concern into a "class warfare" AND a "war on religion" stinkbomb, which is why the GOP's got the label "war on women" on it and it's sticking.

If you honestly believe that Obamacare "saves costs" then you need to have your head examined.  I'm sorry but that's the truth.