Just in case you have not seen this:
Two years ago, Barack Obama was inaugurated as president of the United States.
This is a partial chart on the impact his administration has had on the lives & pockets of Americans:
|
|
January 2009
|
TODAY
|
% chg
|
Source
|
|
Avg. retail price/gallon gas in U.S.
|
$1.83
|
$3.104
|
69.6%
|
1
|
|
Crude oil, European Brent (barrel)
|
$43.48
|
$99.02
|
127.7%
|
2
|
|
Crude oil, West TX Inter. (barrel)
|
$38.74
|
$91.38
|
135.9%
|
2
|
|
Gold: London (per troy oz.)
|
$853.25
|
$1,369.50
|
60.5%
|
2
|
|
Corn, No.2 yellow, Central IL
|
$3.56
|
$6.33
|
78.1%
|
2
|
|
Soybeans, No. 1 yellow, IL
|
$9.66
|
$13.75
|
42.3%
|
2
|
|
Sugar, cane, raw, world, lb. fob
|
$13.37
|
$35.39
|
164.7%
|
2
|
|
Unemployment rate, non-farm, overall
|
7.6%
|
9.4%
|
23.7%
|
3
|
|
Unemployment rate, blacks
|
12.6%
|
15.8%
|
25.4%
|
3
|
|
Number of unemployed
|
11,616,000
|
14,485,000
|
24.7%
|
3
|
|
Number of fed. employees, ex. military (curr = 12/10 prelim)
|
2,779,000
|
2,840,000
|
2.2%
|
3
|
|
Real median household income (2008 v 2009)
|
$50,112
|
$49,777
|
-0.7%
|
4
|
|
Number of food stamp recipients (curr = 10/10)
|
31,983,716
|
43,200,878
|
35.1%
|
5
|
|
Number of unemployment benefit recipients (curr = 12/10)
|
7,526,598
|
9,193,838
|
22.2%
|
6
|
|
Number of long-term unemployed
|
2,600,000
|
6,400,000
|
146.2%
|
3
|
|
Poverty rate, individuals (2008 v 2009)
|
13.2%
|
14.3%
|
8.3%
|
4
|
|
People in poverty in U.S. (2008 v 2009)
|
39,800,000
|
43,600,000
|
9.5%
|
4
|
|
U.S. rank in Economic Freedom World Rankings
|
5
|
9
|
n/a
|
10
|
|
Present Situation Index (curr = 12/10)
|
29.9
|
23.5
|
-21.4%
|
11
|
|
Failed banks (curr = 2010 + 2011 to date)
|
140
|
164
|
17.1%
|
12
|
|
U.S. dollar versus Japanese yen exchange rate
|
89.76
|
82.03
|
-8.6%
|
2
|
|
U.S. money supply, M1, in billions (curr = 12/10 prelim)
|
1,575.1
|
1,865.7
|
18.4%
|
13
|
|
U.S. money supply, M2, in billions (curr = 12/10 prelim)
|
8,310.9
|
8,852.3
|
6.5%
|
13
|
|
National debt, in trillions
|
$10.627
|
$14.052
|
32.2%
|
14
|
Just take this last item: In the last two years we have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as all of our entire nation's history. Metaphorically, speaking, if you are driving in the right lane doing 65 MPH and a car rockets past you in the left lane 27 times faster it would be doing 1,755 MPH!
Sources: (1) U.S. Energy Information Administration; (2) Wall Street Journal; (3) Bureau of Labor Statistics; (4) Census Bureau; (5) USDA; (6) U.S. Dept. of Labor; (10) Heritage Foundation and WSJ; (11) The Conference Board; (12) FDIC; (13) Federal Reserve; (14) U.S. Treasury
hmmmm