I'll attempt to give an accurate, unbiased reply, Georges. You are correct: the unemployment rate is higher now than when Obama was inaugurated. The rate of job creation is higher than when he was inaugurated - we are no longer losing jobs. We are no longer in recession, as when he was elected/took office. We are now in a technical period of economic recovery. The rate of GDP growth is higher. I believe business bankruptcies and bank failures are down from that point and I know the foreclosure rate is lower. In fact,
foreclosures are at a five year low.
As for crime rates, yes, they are lower under Obama. This is according to valid data from the FBI (the same source that would be used for W. Bush or Reagan
):
FBI Crime stats
I am
not suggesting that things are great, or even good, Georges. We do have a great many issues. And I'm not suggesting that Obama should get an A for his overall performance. Overall (domestic economy and foreign policy) I'd give him a C to C-. But since Romney has thus far refused to even take the test, and can't seem to offer any substantive details on what his plan would be (other than the cliche,
cut taxes & deregulate), I'm sorry, but even if I didn't vote for Obama, I would not vote for Romney. See, I didn't know what a neocon was in 1999. And I voted for W. Bush in 2000 and that became the
only vote I've ever cast in my life that I
truly regretted. Romney is (IMO) just an even worse version of George W. Bush. If
pressed, I'd probably vote for W. Bush (again) before I'd vote for Romney.
I'm pretty decent at reading and interpreting stats. That's kinda how I make my living now. So if the only basis that Romney's supporters have for me voting for their boy is to misrepresent (or lie) about stats, that dog don't hunt with this ol' boy. You can try that with Tea Party types. But it didn't take me 6-7 years at 3 or 4 different unaccredited community colleges to get a 4 year degree, like their queen, Sarah Pee.