NBC’s Chuck Todd claims that by many indicators “the country is not better off under Obama .” Chuck Todd compares where we were four years ago against most of the biggest economic, financial, and political indicators indicators used to determine the livelihood of most Americans.
What is probably surprising to most conservatives is the source. Most of them would not expect NBC to even suggest that the country is not better off under Obama. But that is exactly what Chuck Todd does on live cable news TV:
“On the other hand, there is plenty of data to support the idea that the country is not better off than it was four years ago. And that the struggling economy continues to take a toll on families. Median household income is lower than it was in 2009. And 46 million Americans live below the poverty line. Several million more than four years ago. The federal public debt has increased from $10.6 trillion in January 2009, to $16.4 trillion now. Then there’s the big number that’s exactly the same as it was four years ago: the unemployment rate at 7.8 percent, though it’s down from a high of 10 percent in October of 2009.”
The argument between political pundits usually goes that Bush caused the bad economy in the first place. Critics of President Obama respond that Obama needs to take responsibility for his own actions during the first four years of being in the presidential office. Although, it should be pointed out that Congress makes the budgets and passes laws, while presidents just enforce them. Whether a president is to blame or not, the facts are that Democrats maintained a super-majority in both the House and Senate of Congress from 2009 to 2011, maintained a weaker control of the Senate from then on, and will still continue a strong lead in the Senate until 2015.
Do you agree with NBC’s Chuck Todd that America is not better off after four years under Obama?