Two years ago on January 20th, Barack Obama was inaugurated as president of the United States and the Democrats took over in the U.S. Senate and the House Of Representatives.
Are you better off today than you were two years ago?
Numbers don't lie, and below is the data on the impact his administration has had on the lives of Americans.
| | January 2009 | TODAY | % chg | Source | | Avg. retail price/gallon gas in U.S. | $1.83 | $3.104 | 69.6% | 1 | | Crude oil, European Brent (barrel) | $43.48 | $99.02 | 127.7% | 2 | | Crude oil, West TX Inter. (barrel) | $38.74 | $91.38 | 135.9% | 2 | | Gold: London (per troy oz.) | $853.25 | $1,369.50 | 60.5% | 2 | | Corn, No.2 yellow, Central IL | $3.56 | $6.33 | 78.1% | 2 | | Soybeans, No. 1 yellow, IL | $9.66 | $13.75 | 42.3% | 2 | | Sugar, cane, raw, world, lb. fob | $13.37 | $35.39 | 164.7% | 2 | | Unemployment rate, non-farm, overall | 7.6% | 9.4% | 23.7% | 3 | | Unemployment rate, blacks | 12.6% | 15.8% | 25.4% | 3 | | Number of unemployed | 11,616,000 | 14,485,000 | 24.7% | 3 | | Number of fed. employees, not military (curr = 12/10 prelim) | 2,779,000 | 2,840,000 | 2.2% | 3 | | Real median household income (2008 v 2009) | $50,112 | $49,777 | -0.7% | 4 | | Number of food stamp recipients (curr = 10/10) | 31,983,716 | 43,200,878 | 35.1% | 5 | | Number of unemployment benefit recipients (curr = 12/10) | 7,526,598 | 9,193,838 | 22.2% | 6 | | Number of long-term unemployed | 2,600,000 | 6,400,000 | 146.2% | 3 | | Poverty rate, individuals (2008 v 2009) | 13.2% | 14.3% | 8.3% | 4 | | People in poverty in U.S. (2008 v 2009) | 39,800,000 | 43,600,000 | 9.5% | 4 | | U.S. rank in Economic Freedom World Rankings | 5 | 9 | n/a | 10 | | Present Situation Index (curr = 12/10) | 29.9 | 23.5 | -21.4% | 11 | | Failed banks (curr = 2010 + 2011 to date) | 140 | 164 | 17.1% | 12 | | U.S. dollar versus Japanese yen exchange rate | 89.76 | 82.03 | -8.6% | 2 | | U.S. money supply, M1, in billions (curr = 12/10 prelim) | 1,575.1 | 1,865.7 | 18.4% | 13 | | U.S. money supply, M2, in billions (curr = 12/10 prelim) | 8,310.9 | 8,852.3 | 6.5% | 13 | | National debt, in trillions | $10.627 | $14.052 | 32.2% | 14 | In the last two years we have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our entire nation's history. Over 27 times as fast! Metaphorically, speaking, if you are driving in the right lane doing 65 MPH and a car rockets past you in the left lane 27 times faster . . . it would be doing 1,755 MPH!
This is a disaster! Sources: (1) U.S. Energy Information Administration; (2) Wall Street Journal; (3) Bureau of Labor Statistics; (4) Census Bureau; (5) USDA; (6) U.S. Dept. of Labor; (7) FHFA; (8) Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller; (9) RealtyTrac; (10) Heritage Foundation and WSJ; (11) The Conference Board; (12) FDIC; (13) Federal Reserve; (14) U.S. Treasury |
