Are You Better Off Now than You were 4 Years Ago?

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Are You Better Off Now than You were 4 Years Ago?

  • Better off

  • Worse off

  • About the same


Results are only viewable after voting.

nextJin

Golden Member
Apr 16, 2009
1,848
0
0
Since I am military I am about the same (lifestyle), my life is better now than 4 years ago but it has nothing to do with politics or the economy. Married with Children is not as bad as reverend Al would have people believe.

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herm0016

Diamond Member
Feb 26, 2005
8,385
1,011
126
yes, but its because i have worked hard and moved up, not because some idiot in the white house did anything.
 

Todd33

Diamond Member
Oct 16, 2003
7,842
2
81
Four years ago was a living nightmare. Stock market was in free fall, banks were abut to become dominoes, motor companies were getting ready to go bankrupt, my house value was tanking, 401k was taking a nose dive. Times were very uncertain, it looks like a complete financial meltdown was immanent.

Somehow the bleeding stop, banks were bailed out (it worked, but they deserved to fail), everything turned around slowly.

My house price went back up, sold it a few months ago to buy a bigger house. My salary is significantly higher now, 401k rebounded.

I'm not sure how much you can credit the government for anything. But if you can blame the guy in charge when it happen, then surely you must give him equal credit when things go well.

I also blame the GOP for their obstructionism. They want Obama out so much they won't actually do anything positive in fear of Obama looking good. They screwed out credit rating, filibustered everything they could, wasted time on lying about stuff like health care reform, etc. Complete waste of precious time. The thing I hate the most about the last four years is the "Tea Party". They are a knee jerk reaction to a black man winning the POTUS. They are funded by right wing billionaire and are practically a crowd of white people with pick forks and torches. I'm embarrassed to be a white guy every time I see some ignorant fat white person screaming about liberty and freedom at some event. STFU and put your white hood back on.
 

Fern

Elite Member
Sep 30, 2003
26,907
173
106
I suspect that the reason your customers are going under is... poor sales, lack of demand, something that exists across a broad swath of the economy.
-snip-

I'd say it's primarily from unemployment, which means lower demand since people have less to spend at restaurants etc, and low home values/poor housing market. ALL of my R/E business clients are either out-of-business or going that way now. As I sit here typing I'm working on about 6 corporate tax returns for R/E businesses that went bankrupt in 2011.

I see that many here saying things are better recently graduated etc. and got jobs. I bet someone older making a higher salary was laid off to make room for many of you. I.e., you got hired because you are cheaper at the expense of someone else's job.

Sh!t ain't good. End of story.

The path we're currently on is only get to get worse. Unsustainable local/regional/state govt budgets, unsustainable pension/retirement and health benefit obligations for govt workers etc. Unless things change dramatically, and quickly, we're in for a real 'hurtin'.

Fern
 
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werepossum

Elite Member
Jul 10, 2006
29,873
463
126
I'd say it's primarily from unemployment, which means lower demand since people have less to spend at restaurants etc, and low home values/poor housing market. ALL of my R/E business clients are either out-of-business or going that way now. As I sit here typing I'm working on about 6 corporate tax returns for R/E businesses that went bankrupt in 2011.

I see that many here saying things are better recently graduated etc. and got jobs. I bet someone older making a higher salary was laid off to make room for many of you. I.e., you got hired because you are cheaper at the expense of someone else's job.

Sh!t ain't good. End of story.

The path we're currently on is only get to get worse. Unsustainable local/regional/state govt budgets, unsustainable pension/retirement and health benefit obligations for govt workers etc. Unless things dramatically, and quickly, we're in for a real 'hurtin'.

Fern
We have systematic problems in actually fixing our economy, so it's far easier for the Democrats to convince people it has been fixed than to actually fix it. Wouldn't work for the Pubbies because they don't own the media, but it might well work for the Dems. Already we have people here arguing that 8% unemployment is good and lower rates were simply bubbles. Considering employment rates in Western European socialist democracies and how we're becoming the same, our current economic numbers may well become the new normal. Certainly the Democrats (or at least the progressives) are attempting to define it that way.
 

Paratus

Lifer
Jun 4, 2004
16,614
13,297
146
You didn't do that by yourself! If the government had not built the infrastructure for your new company you would not have been hired.

Of course he didn't do that! But you're wrong it wasn't the government it was his President and CEO that did it all. He's just a lazy good for nothing. He needs to be competing his position with India and the Far East. Otherwise he's taking money he didn't earn out of the job creators hands.
 

phillyTIM

Golden Member
Jan 12, 2001
1,942
10
81
Unquestionably better off. We all are and we all know it, don't we?

While I haven't gotten a raise (employed in the public sector), we aren't bleeding 800K jobs/month, Bin Laden is dead so the World is a safer place, Detroit is alive so America keeps it's bread-and-butter industries that relate to auto, healthcare prospects are better off as ObamaCare takes effect, Medicare has been extended so hopefully I have a better chance of it in my later years and the consumer market is obviously alive & thriving as private companies are making record profits.

And therein lies one of the most glaring of problems of today: why do companies have these record profits while unemployment remains much too high?

Shouldn't these companies be creating jobs or investing their profits into America for America's well-being, which directly translates into the well-being of their own companies? Are the private companies not investing into America, during these dark economic hours of America, in order to sabotage President Obama because of the perceived, unparalleled hatred of him & his successes and anyone that tries to tax them anything over 1%? Heck, they'd spew hatred over being taxed 1% I'd bet!

But big picture, absolutely WE ALL are better off than how Bush's regime left things.
 
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nextJin

Golden Member
Apr 16, 2009
1,848
0
0
Has anyone actually gave a personal example of how they are not better off? I am specifically looking for 22 posts but can't find them.
 

Mursilis

Diamond Member
Mar 11, 2001
7,756
11
81
Personally, I dislike this question. 90% of the answer depends on what individuals are doing to better their own lot in life, and has little to do with what the gov't is doing. As I see it, the gov't's job is not to take care of you, but to create an environment in which you can, with a little effort, take care of yourself.