Are We Better Off Today? We’re Not Even Close!

Posted by in Blog, Featured, Politics on September 3, 2012 3:37 pm / 3 comments

As the Democratic National Convention kicks off today much of recent conversation has surrounded the question “are we better off today than we were four years ago”.

In classic Team Obama fashion, David Axelrod and David Plouffe dodged the question on the Sunday shows, offering typical obfuscation in lieu of direct answers. However top Obama surrogate Gov. Martin O’Malley took the “Cory Booker” path and actually told the truth then tried to redirect the conversation.

On CBS’s Face the Nation, host Bob Schieffer asked the Maryland Governor: “Can you honestly say that people are better off today than they were four years ago?”

Responded O’Malley: “No, but that’s not the question of this election. The question, without a doubt, we are not as well off as we were before George Bush brought us the Bush job losses, the Bush recession, the Bush deficits, the series of desert wars — charged for the first time to credit cards, the national credit card.”

As quickly as O’Malley slipped up and went off the Obama message, he pivoted to the top Democratic counterpunch, blame George W. Bush. The problem with that argument is the numbers don’t support the picture Obama and the Democrats are trying to paint.

Looking at the Consumer Price Index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics in six key areas, those that most directly affect the average American, we quickly see the “we’re not great but we’re better off than we were under Bush” rationalization is a blatant lie.

Plotting the percentage change in the CPI in commodities, durable goods, energy, housing, nondurable goods and transportation from January 2005 to January 2009 under Bush and from January 2009 to January 2013 (last five months are extrapolated) under Obama, the lie is exposed.

Comparing the numbers in George W. Bush’s second term, from January 2005 to when Barack Obama took office in January 2009, against Obama’s tenure the lie is further revealed.

Commodities: Bush had a 5.4% increase while Obama’s increase is 13.1%
Durable Goods: Bush had a 5.8% decrease while Obama’s increase is 3.3%
Energy: Bush had a 13.9% increase while Obama’s increase is 28.9%
Housing: Bush had a 13.2% increase while Obama’s increase is 3.0%
Nondurable Goods: Bush had a 10.0% increase while Obama’s is 16.2%
Transportation: Bush had a 1.1% increase while Obama’s is 25.8%

In five out of six areas the percentage increase in the CPI under Obama is close to or more than twice what it was in Bush’s second term. The only area Obama has a lower percentage increase is in housing, and we all know why that number is down.

Combine Obama’s average increase in all six areas of 15.0%, compared to 6.3% under Bush, with a paltry 5.4% increase in mean annual household income since Obama took office and the answer to the question is NO WE’RE NOT EVEN CLOSE TO BEING BETTER OFF. In fact, key consumer costs have risen at a rate of almost three times that of the average earning increase, and that’s not better off by any definition.

 
 

3 Comments

  1. TheNeighborhoodGuy says:
    September 3, 2012 at 4:59 pm

    So Tom, I ask you, why is this election even close to being a horse race? And what should be done nationally to communicate this to middle income liberals and independents? Surely they must feel the same pain at the pump and grocery store as we do. What is really holding them back from letting this guy go? Thanks.

  2. Tom Dougherty says:
    September 3, 2012 at 5:17 pm

    You ask a great question and, in my opinion, the answer lies in a number of areas but the bottom line is Romney and Ryan simply have to pound this message home. They’re not going to change the minds of the hard-core liberals who would support Obama if the earth was on fire and he started it but there are undecideds in the swing states that currently outnumber the polling spread (even the MoE) and they are the key to winning in November. You also have to always remember that the average voter gets their news from the lap dog mainstream media who would never dare to publish such information or chart.

  3. Dan Rush says:
    September 4, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    One only has to look at our latest crop of college grads to see how messed up things have become. I’ve seen some bright kids who are part of the idiots we call the 99 percent. These misfits can’t think for themselves, act for themselves, do for themselves or care for themselves because they spent 4 years getting stoned on the liberal-nazi theology. No we are not better off but two men can make out on the decks of our warships, that’s supposed to be a plus of the Obamination? He can go to hell.

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