No Mr. President, we are not better off

No Mr. President, we are not better off

By Michael Busler

In the fall of 1980, Ronald Reagan was running for President against incumbent Jimmy Carter. He requested that Americans ask themselves one simple question. "Are you better off then you were four years ago?" Since Americans overwhelmingly felt worse off, Reagan won the election.

Now President Obama is asking the same question. He will, however, not like the answer. Most Americans feel worse off today than we were four years ago or even six years ago when the President took office. This is true in almost every important area.

Healthcare remains a critical issue. In 2008, there were approximately 50 million un-insured Americans. Today that number is about 43 million. So perhaps a small minority of two or three percent of Americans, at the lowest income level, feel somewhat better off. But the remaining almost 300 million of us have seen our premiums increase by more than $3,000 per year. (Obama said they would fall by about $2,500 per family) while our tax dollars are being used to pay the subsidies that the president brags about. In addition, many of us at not able to keep our doctor nor are we able to keep the insurance plan we freely chose.

When the President entered office the economy was in the midst of a severe recession. At that time, the expansive monetary policy was likely enough to pull us out while keeping the public debt at a manageable level. But Obama increased government spending by passing a massive near trillion dollar stimulus package that most economists agree did little to help the economy. Then he continued to deficit spend so that he added about $6 trillion to the public debt; more than a 50% increase from the level when he entered office. And he continues to run annual deficits which are at least 40% larger than any other president.

Median annual household income has fallen by an inflation adjusted $2,100 in the past six years and wages have been stagnant (although, to be fair, wages were stagnating before he took office.) Although about 5 million jobs have been added since 2008, most of those jobs are low paying, part-time or have gone to foreign born immigrants, many here illegally.

This recovery from the worst recession since 1981, has been painfully slow. Instead of the recovery seeing annual growth rates in the 4% or 5% range which is more typical after a severe recession, his policies have resulted in a growth rate of about 2%, which barely exceeds population growth.

The energy industry has been able to expand primarily because of new technologies that allow more efficient extraction. This could have led to an energy boom and really stimulated the economy. But the President will not allow the Keystone pipeline to be built, he prohibits drilling on federally owned land and he almost destroyed the coal industry through over regulation. In addition, he uses tax payer dollars to fund alternative energy sources that are simply not economically ready to come to the market.

It is no wonder than recent polls show more than 40% of Americans strongly disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy and about two thirds of Americans think the economy is still headed in the wrong direction.

Perhaps where most Americans feel much worse off is on the issue of security. Many Americans simply do not feel as safe as they have in the past. I recall only one time in my life that I, as an American, felt a sense of insecurity. That was during the Cuban missile crisis. Other than that I always felt safe to be in the USA. Today many Americans are fearful of terrorists that the President assured us were not a problem. Al-Qaida is on the run and terrorism is not a threat, he often told us. Yet today we are at war with terrorists who have threatened to strike on American soil.

Many fear the IRS. Many fear big government is trying to control their lives. Many fear that the government has intruded on their privacy. They fear government officials who either will not tell the truth or who refuse to answer questions.

I am not better off than I was when you took office Mr. President. And hundreds of millions of other Americans share that view.