The 'Economic' State Of The Union

Tomorrow the President of the United States is set to deliver his annual “State Of The Union” address.  This past week, I discussed the upcoming speech with Dave Boyer at the Washington Times who hit on some of the key issues that will be addressed:

“Mr. Obama’s nationally televised speech to a joint session of Congress will strike themes intended to fire up Democratic voters for the midterm elections, including proposals for a nearly 40 percent hike in the federal minimum wage and an extension of long-term unemployment benefits.

Aides say Mr. Obama also will remind lawmakers that he intends to issue more executive orders in this ‘year of action’ after criticizing the 2013 Congress as one of the most unproductive in history. He is expected to announce executive actions on job training and retirement security.

Mr. Obama also will renew the call for comprehensive immigration reform, one of the few legislative issues on which there still appears to be room for compromise between the president and House Republicans.

But the president is expected to focus on economic ‘fairness’ issues, such as the minimum wage, as part of his push to reverse increasing income disparity in America, which he calls ‘the defining issue of our time.’”

While these particular issues are very politically and emotionally charged on both sides of the aisle; I think it is more useful to review “State Of The Union” from a data standpoint rather than a philosophical one.  The real question that needs to answered, in my opinion is quite simple:  “Are we better off today than we were when the current Administration took control?”

I leave you with the following series of charts to answer that question for yourself.

Government Debt

Since 2009, Government debt has surged by over $6 Trillion while real economic growth has only risen by $1.2 Trillion.  However, even this number is inaccurate as the current government debt levels are actually higher than stated as the Treasury has been resorting to “extraordinary measures” to “pay bills” as Congress debates over increases in the current statutory debt limits.

Employment