On January 16, 2012, Mitt Romney tweeted that, “More Americans have lost their jobs under Barack Obama than any president in modern history.” I am so tired of hearing GOP Presidential candidates bash President Obama’s alleged folly. Instead, let’s focus on the last decade.
First, according to the Wall Street Journal, the eight years of 43 and ensuing two years of 44 resulted in the worst-ever growth performance of the S+P 500 index since tracking started after WWII. Second, another absolutely dismal statistic, again from the Wall Street Journal, wages for workers with four year college degrees fell by 8.6% – adjusted for inflation – between 2000-2010. The article referred to this as the “lost decade.” Third, in response to Romney’s tweet, the Chicago Tribune tracked job growth* during the last 12 presidents. The number of jobs gained during the Reagan Administration was 18,594,000, and the Clinton Administration was a close second with 18,117,000. The war-mongering Bushes were last and tenth, surrounding Obama. Obama created 2,619,000 jobs and 43 was dead last…the ONLY president with negative job growth…he lost 1,310,000.
*The article did not account for jobs lost or gained during a president’s first year in office because the “president’s policies have not had time to take effect.”
