Here’s the data for President Obama’s performance review. If he worked for you, would you have retained him as an employee, an executive? You can add $1.5 trillion to the debt using the current fiscal year forecast. Over $5 trillion during his short tenure.
Do the soaring oratory skills offset the data? Does the Noble Prize? Does his minority status? Read the data. Has he helped the poor? Who has benefitted from his presidency? You tell me.
January 20, 2011
Report Card on Obama’s First Two Years
By K.E. Campbell
Two years ago today, Barack Obama was inaugurated as president of the United States. Are you better off today than you were two years ago?
Numbers don’t lie, and here are the data on the impact he has had on the lives of Americans:
| January 2009 | Current | % chg | Source | |
| Avg. retail price/gallon gas in U.S. (regular conventional) | $1.83 | $3.104 | 69.6% | 1 |
| Selected commodities: | ||||
| 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 |
| Natural gas, Henry Hub, $ per MMbtu | $4.85 | $4.48 | -7.6% | 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 |
| Consumer Price Index (for all urban consumers) | 211.1 | 219.2 | 3.8% | 3 |
| Producer Price Index: finished goods | 170.3 | 183.0 | 7.5% | 3 |
| Producer Price Index: all commodities | 171.0 | 189.9 | 11.1% | 3 |
| 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. uniformed military (curr = 12/10 prelim) | 2,779,000 | 2,840,000 | 2.2% | 3 |
| Real median household income (2008 vs 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, in millions | 2.6 | 6.4 | 146.2% | 3 |
| Poverty rate, individuals (2008 vs 2009) | 13.2% | 14.3% | 8.3% | 4 |
| People in poverty in U.S., in millions (2008 vs 2009) | 39.8 | 43.6 | 9.5% | 4 |
| House price index (current = Q3 2010) | 198.7 | 192.7 | -3.0% | 7 |
| S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index: 20 city composite (curr = 10/10) | 146.4 | 145.3 | -0.8% | 8 |
| Number of properties subject of foreclosure filings, in millions | 2.82 | 2.87 | 1.7% | 9 |
| DJIA (12,403 on 6/3/08, date BHO clinched Dem. nomination) | 7,949 | 11,825 | 48.8% | 2 |
| NASDAQ (2,480 on 6/3/08) | 1,441 | 2,725 | 89.1% | 2 |
| S&P 500 (1,378 on 6/3/08) | 805 | 1,282 | 59.2% | 2 |
| Global Dow | 1,356 | 2,153 | 58.8% | 2 |
| U.S. rank in Economic Freedom World Rankings | 5 | 9 | n/a | 10 |
| Consumer Confidence Index (curr = 12/10) | 37.7 | 52.5 | 39.3% | 11 |
| 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 preliminary) | 1,575.1 | 1,865.7 | 18.4% | 13 |
| U.S. money supply, M2, in billions (curr = 12/10 preliminary) | 8,310.9 | 8,852.3 | 6.5% | 13 |
| National debt, in trillions | $10.627 | $14.052 | 32.2% | 14 |
| Sources: | ||||
| 1 – U.S. Energy Information Admin. | ||||
| 2 – Wall Street Journal | ||||
| 3 – Bureau of Labor Statistics | ||||
| 4 – Census Bureau | ||||
| 5 – USDA | ||||
| 6 – U.S. Dept. of Labor | ||||
| 7 – FHFA | ||||
| 8 – Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller | ||||
| 9 – RealtyTrac | ||||
| 10 – Heritage Foundation and WSJ | ||||
| 11 – The Conference Board | ||||
| 12 – FDIC | ||||
| 13 – Federal Reserve | ||||
| 14 – U.S. Treasury |
