Are Things Better Now?

It should surprise no one that the GOP is returning to their tried-and-untrue playbook to help out in this election cycle.  It has been long understood that Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan want cut taxes, cut spending (except for the military) and roll-back government regulations. But now they are going back to the Gipper’s “Are we better off than we were four years ago?”   I did a quick Google.com/Bing.com search for September 2008 headlines and here is a sampling of what I found.

Financial Headlines from 4 Years Ago

September 2008

09.02.08 More weak data likely  (LA Times)
09.04.08 U.S. bankruptcy filing rate jumps (LA Times)
09.05.08 Ex-GOP lobbyist Abramoff sentenced to 4 years in prison (LA Times)
09.06.08 U.S. home woes mount (LA Times)
09.07.08 How Safe Is Your Bank? (LA Times)
09.08.08 U.S. seizes mortgage titans in multibillion-dollar rescue (LA Times)
09.10.08 Lehman fears sink Wall Street (LA Times)
09.11.08 Lehman posts $3.9-billion loss, moves to shore up books (LA Times)
09.12.08 WaMu plans another huge write-down (LA Times)
09.13.08 If Lehman fails, would you feel it? (LA Times)
09.14.08 Lehman Files for Bankruptcy; Merrill Is Sold (NY Times)
09.15.08 Wall St.’s Turmoil Sends Stocks Reeling (NY Times)
09.15.08 New York Allows A.I.G. to Lend Itself Money (NY Times)
09.16.08 Fed’s $85 Billion Loan Rescues Insurer (NY Times)
09.24.08 President Bush’s Speech to the Nation on the Economic Crisis (NY Times)
09.25.08 Talks Implode During a Day of Chaos; Fate of Bailout Plan Remains Unresolved
09.25.08 Government Seizes WaMu and Sells Some Assets (NY Times)
09.29.08 For Stocks, Worst Single-Day Drop in Two Decades (NY Times)
09.30.08 Republican Party, Having Brought You the Meltdown, Now Blames Obama (NY Times)

So go on, ask yourself, are we better off than we were four years ago?