Are you better off now than 2008?

[tobster]

That's the question everyone keeps asking. To get some people thinking, I started carrying a pad of Post Its in my truck. Whenever I buy fuel, I leave a Sticky Note stuck to the pump with the question " Are you better off now or were you better off in 2008 when gasoline was $1.86 a gallon" Maybe it will get a few to remember that fact when they are in the voting booth.

[jhm]

     Thats a GREAT idea.  Jim

[powderman]

TOBSTER. Great idea, it was $1.64 here when hussein took office. POWDERMAN. 

[nw_hunter]

That's the question everyone keeps asking. To get some people thinking, I started carrying a pad of Post Its in my truck. Whenever I buy fuel, I leave a Sticky Note stuck to the pump with the question " Are you better off now or were you better off in 2008 when gasoline was $1.86 a gallon" Maybe it will get a few to remember that fact when they are in the voting booth.

A lot of things other than gas prices to think about. Overall, I am worse off, but  was better off before Bush.
People tend to forget the price of gas when GW took over was 160 per gal. In July 2008, the price at the pump was 4.40 per gal. 275% increase
 
I don't think you can lay all that at the feet of Bush, anymore than the price now on Obama. We didn't have all the endless wars until GW hit town, and this one has only added to it. We didn't have the department of Homeland Security before GW, and this one is using that branch against us.

I don't think we will ever be better off, than we were a few years earlier until we get rid of all the Republican and Democrat scumbags.It's obvious, that won't happen anytime soon.

[336SC]

I at least had a job in 2008.  When the Muslim took over I lost it and can't find a job since Feb 2010.  Got my age against me, I'm 60, and of 63
applications I put in I got two responses of "Not Interested at this time".  My wife and I are living off our retirement savings and it's fast running
out.  Every trip to the drug store runs us $300.00 to $500.00, as we are both diebetic and use insulin.
336SC

[fatercat]

if you own real estate you are not better off.

[guzzijohn]

Quote from fatercat:
"if you own real estate you are not better off."


Unless your real estate is farmland. In our area farm land as a whole has increased 30% this last year and was doing 15-25% each year for several years before that. Land that I bought for $380 in the early 90s is now worth $3,000+.
GuzziJohn

[Graybeard]

No I'm far worse off. My home is worth far less but I have to pay more property taxes on it. Gas costs me almost twice as much as back then and groceries are up 50% or more across the board.

My federal retirement pension hasn't even gone up enough to cover the cost of my health insurance much less to help with all the rest of the things that have gone up.

[nw_hunter]

No I'm far worse off. My home is worth far less but I have to pay more property taxes on it. Gas costs me almost twice as much as back then and groceries are up 50% or more across the board.

My federal retirement pension hasn't even gone up enough to cover the cost of my health insurance much less to help with all the rest of the things that have gone up.

How true, and unfortunately, will be even worse after the next four years regardless of the occupant in the Big House.

[45-70.gov]

Re: Are you better off now than 2008?


that always works because people  in general are  SOOOOO PESIMISTIC


actually  except for getting older....EVERY YEAR IS BETTER THAN THE ONE BEFORE


my glass  is half full......and who is president has little to do with  it

[hillbill]

in some ways im better off and in some ways im worse off. this administration has really made me take a hard look at my lifestyle. im just a old country boy and have never lived extravagently at all. all my stuff is paid for, mostly because i built every thing from scratch. this administration has made me vow to stay debt free. and ive started to save every nickel i can. so in that respect im better off. i now grow or kill as much of my own food as i can. in that respect im better off. ive learned new skills and will be using them in the years to come.in that respect im better off.
 
in the not better off collum, im now paying higher prices for energy, what food i do purchase,property taxes,and just about every thing you can think of.i dont use a lot of energy but just got the highest electric bill ive ever had.im sure this nov ill git a rediculous property tax bill and have to sell the calf i was wanting to butcher. it seems to me this adminastration has stood in the way of everything that would help us.no coal, no oil,higher taxes on people who buy what we the commom people build,more regulation for any kind of business that would provide us with jobs.ive got no love for them.

[D Fischer]

How bad can it really be? We are all either a lot closer to collecting welfare or there! I don't recall gas that low in 2008. I got my Jeep about 5 yrs ago because gas price was killing me in the Bronco. It was right at $4.50 a gallon. I will say this though, it hasn't got any better but my understanding is that the market controls the price of gas. Now if we were allowed to drill for oil in this country like we should, I understand gas price could go way down. I'm all for bashing Obama about things he does that he can control but I don't think the gas price is one of them. And, no, I did not vote for him before and won't this time either.

I get really tired of this garbage. when I get e-mails that are about Obama, I delete without reading them. You are all preaching to the choir.

[magooch]

I was much better off in a lot of ways when Bush was President and because of some of the things he did as President.  Today I'm much better off in ways that have nothing to do with Obama, but much worse off in ways that has everything to do with Obama.  I can't think of one thing he has done that made my life better.

[45-70.gov]

if you own real estate you are not better off.

i bought  2 rental properties at a steal


those that lost them  haven't faired so well  in this economy


opertunity  knocks  quite   often
you will  see  this  if your eyes are looking  up in optimism not down  in depression

[dukkillr]

Quote from fatercat:
"if you own real estate you are not better off."


Unless your real estate is farmland. In our area farm land as a whole has increased 30% this last year and was doing 15-25% each year for several years before that. Land that I bought for $380 in the early 90s is now worth $3,000+.
GuzziJohn

+1  Just so happens I bought some WRP for $600 an acre in 2008.  The ground next to it just turned over in the $1800 range.
 
I think NW_hunter had it right.  There are plenty of problems with this administration, but using only the the price of gas at two points in time for evidence is at best simplistic, and more honestly, misleading.
 
Around here the pumps shut off at $100 or $125 dollars.  Usually I haven't filled the whole tank by then

[tobster]

"

How bad can it really be? We are all either a lot closer to collecting welfare or there! I don't recall gas that low in 2008. I got my Jeep about 5 yrs ago because gas price was killing me in the Bronco. It was right at $4.50 a gallon. I will say this though, it hasn't got any better but my understanding is that the market controls the price of gas. Now if we were allowed to drill for oil in this country like we should, I understand gas price could go way down. I'm all for bashing Obama about things he does that he can control but I don't think the gas price is one of them. And, no, I did not vote for him before and won't this time either.

I get really tired of this garbage. when I get e-mails that are about Obama, I delete without reading them. You are all preaching to the choir.

"
 
            The market might control the price of fuel, but I believe the market reacts to situations and policies that the President has a direct hand in creating. Just the threat of more drilling will cause the price to go down, stalling the completion of the pipeline or deepwater rigs leaving the gulf for friendlier waters doesn't
. Printing more money ( as they just started doing again) devalues the dollar so the cost of a barrel of oil goes up, not to mention the few bucks an old bird like me has saved buys less. We have yet to see the full effect of Obama's EPA's strangle hold on the coal industry and it's effect on the cost of electricity.
               Imagine where we might be if Obama had put as much effort into creating a comprehensive energy policy rather than Obamacare or campaigning for reelection 24/7. Previous presidents failed to accomplish this as well, but they are now in the history books,not the oval office.My idea of an  alternate energy policy isn't a kickback to cronies who have stock in
companies like Solyndra. Not having a solid position in the Mideast also adds to the volatile price of fuel.
           I may be preaching to the choir here, but the target is the individual buying fuel. I want them to remember that gasoline hasn't always cost 4 bucks a gallon and doesn't necessarily need to in the future. I use a sticky note because they are just standing there pumping fuel and they will read it. If I taped a crazy rant like this to the pump they would probably tear it off and use it to wash their windshield.
                         

[muznut 54]

Most of you guys must have forgot when gasoline was five bucks a gallon just before Bush blew up the economy, and little old ladies in California couldn't pay their $1800 a month electric bills because of political shenanigans. And yes I'm better off. When Obama said on the news, if it were me I would invest in the stock market now, I took his advice and made a small fortune.

[Gary G]

We must not forget that the bigger the government becomes, the larger the chunk it must take out of the private economy to pay for it's boondoggles. Thus, we have and will continue to lose our standard of living until the end. In the past, technology has, at times' somewhat mediated these obstacles, but it now seems the obstacle becomes to gargantuan.


Let's put the blame where it belongs:
http://lewrockwell.com/williams-w/w-williams140.html

[BBF]

I'm not part of your economy however my wife now receives one of the two Govt.pensions we have here so I'm somewhat better of. Prices for fuel and food have risen but not enough to offset the additional income.

[Gary G]

Those who piggyback on the government trough fillers are doing just fine. They will try to make government serfs of the rest.

[powderman]

[muznut 54]

Bushy boy negated the Clinton food stamp restrictions and signed into law the rules we have now.