Can Obama run on his current record and win the 2012 election?

With Republican and National Conventions behind us and campaigning in full swing, I’d like to revisit the 2008 Democratic National Convention and see just how President Obama has since taking office.

On August 28, 2008, President Obama said: “Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less.” The unemployment rate in July of 2008 was 5.8%.  In July 2012, that rate was 8.3%. 

Obama went on to say, “More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet.”

 USAToday.com stated that the foreclosure rate was at 3 million in 2008. According to Newsmax.com, “About 5 million borrowers are at least two months behind on their mortgages and industry experts say more people will miss payments because of job losses and also loans that exceed the value of the homes they are living in.” This was in January of 2011. Bankforeclosuresale.com says, “With the new foreclosure settlement, critics are suggesting that 2012 could easily exceed 2011’s foreclosure numbers and even compete with 2010 for the worst year on record for the foreclosure crisis.”

Obama stated that the “failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.”  I suppose the same principle would apply to the failed politics of the Obama Administration?

“We (Democrats) measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business…an economy that honors the dignity of work.”  Why are there so many more on unemployment and welfare compensations, then?

The total number of Millionaire households in the US has declined by 129,000 since 2011. Globally, millionaires increased by 175,000. People with money are the ones who take the risks to open a business and hire those in the lower- to middle-class.

“Change means a tax code that doesn’t reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small business owners who deserve it. I will cut taxes for 95% of all working families.”  According to Washingtopost.com, if Congress allows the tax rates for the nation’s highest wage earners to expire at the end of this year, millions of small businesses may be forced to cut jobs and wages to the middle class.  So we won’t tax the middle class, we’ll just cause them to lose their jobs.  Good plan, Mr. Obama.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, this would drain $607 billion out of the economy next year, pushing us back into a recession. Is this how we “honor the dignity of work”?

According to Forbes.com, Medicaid is expected to grow from $425 billion taxpayer in 2010 to $800 billion by 2018.  And under ObamaCare 85 million Americans will be on Medicare, growing to over 100 million by 2021.

St. George has experienced its share of business downturn. These numbers speak for themselves. You have a chance to speak on November 6.

Rhonda Tommer is a resident of St. George and a member of The Spectrum and Daily News writers group.  She can be reached at r.tommer.writersgroup@gmail.com