President Obama: 6 years of steady progress

http://samuel-warde.com/2015/01/6-years-of-progress/

President Obama has accomplished far more than most people realize in his six years in office.

Rolling Stone reported in October that “As Paul Krugman argues in his piece In Defense of Obama, this has not been a feel-good presidency. But it has been a consequential one. The policy victories Obama has delivered have been hard-fought, messy and politically fraught. The achievements may not be all that the president’s 2008 boosters hoped for, but change has come.”

Rolling Stone went on to list 55 figures detailing Obama’s first 6 years of progress. We are providing a few of our favorites, below, but be sure to check out Rolling Stone forthe full list.

1. Peak unemployment, October 2009: 10 percent
   Unemployment rate now: 5.8 percent
2. Consecutive private sector job growth: 57 months [remember, December’s final figures are not yet out.]
   Private sector jobs created: 10.9 million
3. Federal deficit, 2009: 9.8 percent of GDP
   Deficit in 2014: 2.8 percent of GDP
   Average under Ronald Reagan: 4.2 percent of GDP