Are you better off?

When Ronald Reagen ran for President against Jimmy Carter in 1980 he asked Americans, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?"

Today, as I look back to the election of 2008 and the years since, I see an economy that is still sluggish and it can be argued that it is still in recession.

I look back at the Federal debt in November of 2008 and I am sickened at the spending that resulted in a national debt of nearly 10.6 Trillion dollars but I am absolutely horrified at the nearly $16 trillion in debt we have now. We have racked up nearly $1.4 trillion in debt each year since our last Presidential election.

In November 2008 the average price for a gallon of gasoline was $2.40. Today the average gasoline price is $3.702, $1.30 more than it was before our last Presidential election.

In November 2008 the unemployment rate was 6.5%, the highest rate in 14 years. The unemployment rate for last month was 8.3% but the story is even worse when you count those folks who have simply given up looking for work or who are underemployed.

Food is more expensive than it was nearly four years ago, I know, I work in retail and I see the price changes every single day.

When Reagen ran for reelection in 1984 he ran TV ads that asked, and answered the question he asked in 1980. The ads listed the ways we were better off than we were 4 years previous. Can Obama do the same? The answer to that  is no.