Why do voters of all stripes generally see the economy as anemic? More than 3 million jobs have been created in the last two years, the Dow Jones has jumped from about 8,000 to more than 13,000, and the recession ended almost three years ago. Seems like a lot of good news. So is President Obama getting a bum rap?
The answer depends on your benchmark. If you simply compare today’s economy to where it was in January 2009, the president looks good. And if you believe his claims that the so-called stimulus and the bailouts were necessary to save the economy from collapse, then he looks very good.
Yet Obama still faces an uphill battle this November — because the nonrich aren’tfeeling better off. There are several reasons:
* The unemployment rate is still above 8 percent, even though the White House promised it would drop to about 6 percent today if the stimulus was enacted.
“You don’t need to be versed in economic statistics to understand that America is enduring a very anemic recovery.”
* Several million fewer Americans have jobs today than five years ago.
* The poverty rate has jumped to more than 15 percent, with a record number of Americans living below the poverty level of income.
* According to the most recent data, median household income is lower than when the recession began.
* The burden of government spending remains high, and record levels of red ink are a symptom of that bloat in Washington.
* The threat of higher taxes is omnipresent, serving as a Sword of Damocles over the economy’s neck.
* Continued weakness in the housing and financial sectors reminds people that bailouts and intervention have left lots of problems unsolved.
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