So our side had a bit of a Mitt Romney type gaffe this weekend with the whole "Are you better off" question. I understand the confusion because the President has set us up for this problem.
Being the empathetic guy he is, he has refused to celebrate his accomplishments out of fear of spiking the ball at the 40 yard line. He doesn't want people to view him as out of touch with their issues so he goes out of his way to sound optimistic, but concerned about the plight still facing Americans. Instead of pushing his accomplishments front and center and running a campaign of "the worst is over" we get Forward. The sense that while things are improving, too many still struggle and there is more work to be done.
This sort of nuance causes confusion among some of our dumber surrogates.
I submit there is no need for such nuance. Even in the good times there is still work to be done. Even at the end of the Clinton administration when we had 8 years of peace and prosperity, there was still work to be done. The fact that the world isn't perfect doesn't mean you can't brag about the steps you have taken.
I have seen people telling their stories around here and the consensus seems to be that while individuals may not be better off, the nation as a whole is. We're no longer on the verge of total collapse. But for me personally, as an individual I am better off than I was 4 years ago. Quite a bit better off actually.
I am living proof of the improvement that has taken place in the last 4 years. In February of 2008 I lost my job of 7 years. This would have been bad enough on it's own, but I soon learned that while my former employer had been withholding money from my checks for unemployment insurance and social security, they had not in fact been putting that money into the system. I am still to this day trying to get my Social Security stuff fixed.
In the meantime there was no unemployment for me. I was 26 years old and within a month of being laid off I was living back at home, in my parents garage. The incredibly high gas prices in the Spring of 2008 made it very hard to even go out and look for work, though I did every chance I got. I was putting gas in my car one gallon at a time whenever I could afford the five bucks. But there was no work to find. Millions and millions of people were in the same boat I was, some had already been looking for work for a few years.
This was a major blow to morale.
Let me take this moment to back up a bit. I had only moved out of my parents house about 6 months prior. The thing about a "good" economy is that housing prices sky rocket, and so to does the price of rent. Making just barely over minimum wage throughout the early 2000's meant I was constantly priced out of the market. Single room apartments were going for well over $900 a month. Terrible houses older than I am were selling for upward of $250,000 dollars. Moving out was not a realistic option for me.
Then by the middle of 2007 things started going downhill in my little town. To be honest throughout the 2000's things were slowly going down hill despite the fact that some people seemed to be in denial of this obvious fact. It seems to me that small cities and towns are the first to feel the sting of impending economic crises and the last to recover. From 2001 onward I was always denied a raise, or even more hours because business was slowing down. I could never find any job openings because as we all know the Bush economy was losing jobs left and right. I felt lucky to have my shitty job with no sick leave and no vacation days or benefits of any sort.
Then suddenly full blown houses were being put up for rent for the same price as one room apartments. One room apartments were suddenly getting really cheap. I took advantage and got myself an apartment. A pretty nice one too. I thought I had finally done it and I would never need to burden my parents with my existence ever again.
Then of course I lost my job. I spent 2008 living in a garage with everything I owned packed in boxes. My bed sat in the corner, box spring on the floor next to the washer and dryer. My parents had moved into a smaller house, there was no room for their 26 year old son to move back into. Though they never said an unkind word to me I was a failure as a human being and an unwanted guest, I am sure.
By this time in 2008 I had managed to find an even crappier job than I had before. All of my savings had been wiped out by the simple act of continuing to make my car and car insurance payments. My credit cards had become beyond past due. I needed this new job. Even though it was the most degrading and embarrassing thing I had ever done for money.
I was a telemarketer.
It was terrible. Imagine being crammed in a room with 200 people all of whom are your age, all of whom have shared a common life experience and you're not allowed to talk to them. In fact even just coughing gets you in trouble. Imagine having to say the same thing thousands of times per day, reading a script that feels about as natural and personable as a Mitt Romney speech. Imagine being yelled at, insulted and called every name imaginable by the people you are tasked with calling.
All for minimum wage.
Add to that the fact that I was doing this on behalf of a Natural Gas company lobbying for deregulation. It made me want to throw up. I hated that job. I hated myself for doing that job and that's probably why I was so bad at it. By November I was fired and back at square one, except I had a few car payments in the bank, a full tank of gas and was starting to make a dent in my credit cards.
I would remain unemployed until April 2009 when I finally found a new job in my old industry. My new job is no better than my old one. In fact it is pretty much the same thing. I still have no sick leave, no vacation. But I make $10 an hour, which is still pretty bad but an improvement over my old job and a vast, vast, vast improvement over telemarketing.
While I am on the subject be nice to telemarketers, their lives suck!
Now I work for a Mormon, surrounded by Mormons. They all believe Mitt Romney is the chosen one, and none of them believe in Dinosaurs. It's frustrating. But it's work. I was able to pay off all my credit card debts and keep my car. Plus the total financial collapse in the market allowed me to buy a nice house a few months ago for $80,000 dollars. My mortgage payment is less than my old rent.
Instead of everybody freaking out over whether or not to shove all their money in a mattress, people are buying things. Wall Street is booming. Disneyland is crazy busy and those tickets are not cheap. In a few years when ACA goes into effect I might be able to afford health insurance for the first time in my adult life. Stimulus money kept schools open and local roads and bridges intact.
But most importantly people are finding work!
Things are not where they were before the collapse, that much is true. But that should not be the standard we hold for President Obama. The only fair standard is better than the day he took office. Four years of Obama is not enough to undo 8 years of President Bush. It's not enough to undo the 2000 election and get us back to a Clinton/Gore type economy. But since Obama took office you have to admit it's getting better.
A little better all the time.
The President should embrace that message. It will give those whose lives aren't better off the hope they desperately need. It will send a message to the rest of the world that we are optimistic about our future. And it will put his accomplishments, the evolution of our economy and the progress we have made center stage for people to see first hand, exactly how much better things have gotten.
The choice of this election is not between a guaranteed incremental improvement versus a risky new strategy that if successful could maybe yield higher returns at a faster rate. No it is between a President that has spent the last 4 years rebuilding this nations foundation for success. And a man who wants to return to the policies that destroyed it.