"Are You Better Off?"

With sincere respect SSG Odom... exactly how are we worse? I came home to the beginning of the Obama era, so I fancy I have a decent perspective on how we've improved economically. 2008-2009 wasn't the end of the "Great Recession", it was just the beginning. 2013 was an abysmal year for industry. I remember the endless string of projects in "limbo" waiting for the results of the elections... and how the floodgates seemed to open afterwards. I've personally known people who lived in abject fear of a pink slip for years... suddenly have their "pick" of lucrative, lasting positions within the first "Hundred Days". I'm earning more, our sector is expanding, and projections are up. I keep looking for the direct ways long-reaching decisions from the Obama administration truly contributed (logically, one would expect that)... and I simply haven't. I remember being convinced that it wasn't "paranoia" to expect ISIS operatives to be lurking on our home turf... and the advice given to OIF/OEF vets to hide their past "just in case". These days, I'm convinced more than ever, America isn't a place you want to mess with much. North Korea has faded back into obscurity... no one's thinking the Russians are going to roll tanks into Western Europe... and it seems jihadi leaders are falling like leaves. What I've NOT seen are all the things many feared a Trump administration would usher in; I've seen no jack-booted thugs patrolling the streets rounding up liberals. I've not seen a rash of hate-motivated killings nationwide. There's been no great military catastrophe. Believe it or not, I've even seen more "left" and "right" minded folks coming together over certain issues... maybe because the poster children of the Progressive Movement are so far out in left field, no one wants to throw them the ball. A lot of "our" side feared Obama wouldn't relinquish power... he did. Trump will do the same, if defeated in this election, or ineligible in the next. The real question will be what happens in either event, because frankly, this seems a great deal like status quo with a few minor adjustments... some of the Democrats currently running seem committed to radical upheavals that may prove bad for everyone.

I think it depends, as it always does, on who you are. I have a number of friends who are better off. I also have some who are not. Presidents get too much credit when things are good and too much blame when things are bad