Obama is not the man to improve economy

People think that the economy isn’t so bad because the stock market is back at pre-Barack Obama levels. They are inclined to give the president another term.

But even in Democrat policy-rich Washington the unemployment rate is up. And then there is inflation: the measure of how much you can buy for a dollar today compared with what you could buy for a dollar before.

Gasoline, for instance: We bought about a gallon for $2 when Bush left office, now we buy a half gallon for $2. Summer corn has gone from five for a dollar to two for a dollar. Our own Washington apples reach $2.99 a pound these days and lettuce is up about 50 cents. A decent car costs dramatically more than it used to.

Though my stock portfolio’s dollar amount is about where it was under Bush, it is not worth what it was under Bush. It cannot buy today what it could have bought then. The president’s economic policies have devastated the financial security carefully accumulated by this middle-class retired soldier and teacher. And my property tax statement says my land and home are worth less, too.

Much of this is due to the president-approved Federal Reserve playing with interest rates while trying to overcome natural economic trends. We need a man in the White House who has spent a career successfully managing interest, inflation and business if we want to recover from this economic mess. Obama is not that man.