"Are you better off today than you were four years ago?" President Ronald Reagan asked that straight-forward question in 1980. While President Reagan challenged Americans to think about their changing economic circumstances over the course of the Carter Administration, we should be asking ourselves the same question today with respect to the last six years of the Obama presidency.
So, how are Americans doing today as compared to six years ago? Let's run through some numbers together.
Since 2009, the average income for American families has dropped and more than two-thirds of Americans think the economy is headed in the wrong direction. More relevant to us is the opinion of the people of central and eastern Missouri. Now, when Congress is not voting, I am home in Missouri, oftentimes traveling the district to meet with you directly and listen to your concerns. I also regularly host tele-town hall meetings, attend civic events, tour businesses, and meet with local government officials, so I hear your feedback about what is important to you and your families, friends, and neighbors. From time to time, I also send out surveys, and here is the feedback about the economy that I received from the most recent one.
I asked if you believe the country is on the right track and 85.4 percent of you believe it is headed in the wrong direction. I also asked what your biggest concerns are and jobs and the economy received 12.9 percent of the vote - the second highest among the 11 categories.
And here are some more numbers for you. President Obama would have to create more than 620,000 American jobs per month to catch up to the job creating numbers that President Reagan had - and the President's current average is 197,000. Even more astounding is in August, only 142,000 jobs were created.
After all of these dismal numbers, let me tell you how the House of Representatives has acted to get our economy healthy again.
The House has passed over 45 job creating bills to get you back to work. For example, in the 3rd Congressional District, I've met with several companies that utilize the research and development tax credit and could expand their business if this was made permanent. Earlier this year, the House passed the American Research and Competitiveness Act which would simplify and make permanent this job-creating tax credit to boost U.S. competitiveness.
And for our nation's veterans, the House of Representatives passed the Hire More Heroes Act, which would make it easier for small businesses to hire more veterans by providing an exemption to the president's health-care law's employer mandate for veterans with existing health coverage.
Those are just two examples of common-sense, straight-forward pieces of legislation the House have passed this Congress and there are dozens more bills to get Americans back to work. It's time for a change and Americans are ready for bottom-up growth. Maybe President Obama should ask the same question that President Reagan did so he can hear firsthand how you are not better off today than you were four years ago.
U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., represents the state's 3rd District, which includes Jefferson City. His local office can be reached at 573-635-7232.
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