Sunday I wrote a post about the recovery in jobs and wages that President Obama’s policies have brought about since he took office. In terms of the campaign, this matters because Hillary Clinton is the candidate who will maintain and strengthen Obama’s initiatives, while Donald Trump will tear them down and pursue the exact opposite approach.
New data was just released that further demonstrates the effectiveness of Democratic policies. From Bloomberg:
Fresh yearly data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed median, inflation-adjusted household income rose 5.2 percent to $56,516 in 2015, the highest level since $57,423 in 2007, when the recession began. With 43.1 million Americans in poverty, leaving the poverty rate in 2015 at 13.5 percent, down 1.2 percentage points from 2014 and the lowest since 13.2 percent in 2008.
Given the monthly data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2016, we’ve probably made up that last $900 (1.8%), and have now gotten median real household income back to where it was in 2007. Given the severity of the Great Recession, the record is impressive. The census data also showed that the percentage of Americans without health coverage in 2015 dropped 1.3% from the previous year, and now stands at 9.1%.
Yes, as I said Sunday, we still have serious economic problems. But Hillary Clinton and the rest of the Democratic candidates aren’t running against perfection, they are running against Republican opponents whose policies failed miserably at the task of creating a strong economy that works for everyone (see Bush, George W.). Elections are about choices, and the data is clear. Democrats are the only choice.