Bush/Republicans destroyed the economy, now ask "are you better off?"

[ProSense]

<...>

The employment recovery during Mr. Bush's first term was very sluggish, and private employment was down 913,000 jobs at the end of his first term. The recovery has been sluggish under Mr. Obama's presidency too, but there are now 35 thousand more private sector payroll jobs than when Mr. Obama's term started.

http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2012/05/april-employment-summary-and-disucssion.html

That's not even counting the disaster at the end of Bush's second term.

Private Jobs Turn Positive for Obama Presidency

By Sudeep Reddy

<...>

Overall Jobs
The nation’s non-farm payrolls reached 133 million (reported as 132,989,000) in April’s preliminary seasonally adjusted count from the Labor Department. That’s 152,000 more than the level in February 2009, though still 572,000 fewer than in January 2009. (January 2009 posted the worst jobs decline of the downturn, a loss of 818,000 jobs in a single month.) If the job gains continue around the relatively slow pace we saw in April, the overall jobs count will be above the January 2009 level before election day.

Private-sector Jobs
With the latest report, total private payrolls are now higher than they were in January 2009. The latest count put private-sector jobs at about 111 million in April (reported as 111.02 million), or 35,000 jobs more than the January 2009 level. Private payrolls as of April were up 760,000 from Obama’s first full month in office in February 2009.

Government Jobs
Total public-sector employment in April stood at almost 22 million. That’s down by 607,000 from January 2009 and 608,000 from February 2009. The losses all came at the state and local levels. Employment by the federal government, at 2.8 million in April, was about 31,000 more than the January 2009 level. State government employment stood at 5.1 million in April, down from 5.2 million in January 2009. Payrolls of local governments stood at 14.1 million, down from 14.6 million in January 2009.

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/05/04/private-jobs-turn-positive-for-obama-presidency/

Is it any wonder why Republicans are hiding Bush?

Bush's lingering presence over his party
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021258428


CHART: Economy Has Recovered All Private Sector Jobs Lost Since Obama Took Office
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/05/04/478368/478368/




Fact: The recovery was hindered by Republicans
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021243365

[RedStateLiberal]

1. Good response to the "are you better off" question.

It's just not fair to ask "are you better off than you were 4 years ago" without prefacing it with the FACT that Bush and Republicans wrecked the economy.

Of course, Rethugs will never play fair so it's no wonder they're spreading this BS talking point as if people have amnesia about the Bush admin like they seem to have.

[ProSense]

2. Thus far, Americans

aren't buying it, but Republicans have decided to amplify this meme, and they need to be called out hard on it.

I mean, not only did they destroy the economy, but they also are advocating a return to Bush's policies...on steroids.

[Loudly]

3. The American economy is like the WTC towers.

Bush smashed into it, and it crumbled into ruins.

And a big hole in the ground remained for a decade before a new skyscraper was commenced.

We are exactly 4 years post crash.

President Obama needs and deserves more time.

[ProSense]

4. Republicans are standing

on the sidelines doing everything they can to stall the recovery and rooting for failure.

Republicans Hope Bad Jobs Report Will Overshadow Obama’s DNC Speech
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021254794

[ProSense]

5. Another. n/t

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

6. Not only destroyed it, but tried to keep it from being repaired

and Paul Ryan had the nerve to blame Obama for the credit downgrade that he helped provoke.

[titaniumsalute]

7. Brilliant post

I pulled some data a few days ago and it showed that during Obama's first four years he has netted more priavte sector jobs than Bush did. Bush had a HUGE gift of adding hundreds of thousands of Public Sector jobs...of course today those are going away.

[ProSense]

8. Kick! The trend

of state and local government layoffs continue:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday morning that, seasonally adjusted, the economy created 103,000 new private jobs in August, and shed 7,000 government jobs for a net gain of 96,000. The consensus of experts surveyed ahead of time by Bloomberg was that there would be a net gain of 125,000. The official unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent, mostly because of a shrinking work force.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/07/1128574/-Government-reports-96-000-new-jobs-for-August-Official-jobless-rate-at-8-1-U6-at-14-7