Are you better off than you were when President Barack Obama took the oath of office?
That is a question that has been asked this week as Democrats met in Charlotte, N.C., to officially nominate President Barack Obama as their candidate for the 2012 Presidential Election. Naturally, the White House has been trying to deflect questions by blaming former President Bush and Republicans for the nation's current economic woes.
But the party's mouthpieces have had trouble making that false claim stick because the national debt now tops $16 trillion.
That works out to about $51,447 each for every resident of the United States.
When Obama took office in January 2009, the national debt was $10.6 trillion - or about $34,083 per person.
With his term not yet over, then, the White House, working with liberals in Congress, has added $17,364 in debt for everyone - or $69,456 for a family of four. Unfortunately, with the exception of the fast-food industry, few jobs have been added over that time.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that if Obama remains in office, the national debt by the time he leaves in 2017 will be about $18.4 trillion.
At some point all that debt will have to be repaid, one way or another.
Are you better off under Obama?
Not with that kind of crushing - and exploding - debt.
