How Much Is Obama Really to Blame for the Economy?

As Obama himself seemed to understand at the outset, the economic devastation he faced was the worst in 80 years. It was far worse, in other words, than anything Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, or Gorge H.W. Bush had to overcome. And because this recession was caused by an unprecedented financial collapse, history shows that it was destined to be longer-lived than most.

Unemployment trends also indicate that it is somewhat unfair to accuse Obama, as his GOP opponents are wont to do, of driving up the jobless rate beyond what it was when he took office. The official recession began in December 2007, more than a year before he became president, and ended in June 2009, some five months into his presidency. But the unemployment rate is a lagging indicator; in November of 2008, the month of Obama's election, it was still only 6.8 percent, though it had slowly climbed from December and it reached a height of 7.8 percent in January, just before Obama was sworn in. Still driven by what began as George W. Bush's recession, it didn't bottom out until nine months into Obama's term, 10.1 percent in October of 2009, and then barely began to decline over the next two years.

exhaustedandtired/1208 wrote:

DesperateInRI wrote:

exhaustedandtired/1208 wrote:Don't know and neither do you! But if he can screw up so bad why not give someone else a chance! or do you like 8 yrs of hell instead of four! It seems of all the comments from Obama supporters that he has become right winged a little but he is still so great! if thats true then why criticize the repubs!

To asnwer : To be so uneducated and say without fact and proof that the people forerunners for repub. nomination and say they can't do the job. They can bull crap just like Obama. At least we know he is a failure and for one to say all the repubs. can't do the job, well, Thats just a opinion, never know until someone gets in! I'd bet on anyone but obama can do the job! I don't need four more years of nothing!

Don't tell me what I know and don't know! I do know that 8 years of the Bush presidency led to this mess and you are expecting miracles from our President. We have gained more jobs in this country since Obama took office than the WHOLE 8 years Bush was president!

Again, we live in a DEMOCRACY! There are 3 BRANCHES of GOVERNMENT! The president cannot do things on his own. I guess the 13% approval rating of the GOP controlled House mean nothing! People are waking up, and in 2012, THEY WILL BE OUT!





As far as Bachman and Perry - they are way too extreme and don't know their azz from their elbow! If I thought for one minute either had a shot at the Presidency, I'd be making my way to the Canadian border now. Listen to some of the things they have come out with for once - maybe you'll want to join me in Canada!

If you can hold Bush accountable then lets go back to those days Hum! Desp. did you have a job then??? Looks like yes, things fell apart when he left and YES it set up under his watch at the end but where is your leadership and job creation! I know, its everybody else! Always an excuse. Why do we have a president that is defended not with success but excuses why nothing gets done under him! Its everyone else for his failure. If he was a strong and powerful president couldn't he overcome and his success could not be denied? I know its everyone else to blame! He inherited this!!! And he decided to keep his inheritance!

WilliamsonAngel wrote:

TOO OLD TO HIRE IN PA wrote:As for Medicare, they have to regulate the OUTRAGEOUS charges by doctors and hospitals.

We need to examine the cost of schooling across the board. There's no reason why someone should need to go hugely into debt to get an education. This is especially true for doctors.

Another thing that could help cut the cost of medical care would be to take a look at malpractice insurance costs and requirements, lower them, and set up some sort of regulation to assure doctors aren't being charged usurious rates for said insurance and slap silly insurers that are trying to overcharge doctors.

We could also slap silly the pharmaceutical industry (and perhaps look at our own regulations/fees/etc charged to them). The name brand version of the medication I take (before it went generic) is 135 dollars per month.