Are we? During a radio interview last week with a local D.C. hip hop station, First Lady Michelle Obama claimed we are in a "huge recovery."
Reality check: Under Barack Obama, the unemployment rate was above 8.1 percent for 42 months. The current unemployment rate of 7.9 percent is a result of more people giving up the search for job, not a result of more people being employed. Not to mention, 7.9 percent was the unemployment rate when Barack Obama was inaugurated in 2009 and was considered a crisis, it should be considering a crisis now too. There are more people than ever on food stamps and 23 million people are out of work. One of every two college graduates are moving back in with their parents because they can't find a job. The number of jobs added each month falls short of the number of jobs needed to simply keep up with population growth. On average, a gallon of gas costs $4 per gallon. GDP growth has been less than 2 percent in 2012, hardly a sign of recovery.