Scranton (PA) Times-Tribune Endorses President Obama
In January 2009, the heart of the Great Recession and the same month that President Barack Obama took office, the economy lost 800,000 jobs after giving up 3 million over the previous six months - the most for any single month of the previous 60 years. Home foreclosure rates soared. The U.S. auto industry teetered on the edge of collapse, threatening another 3 million jobs throughout its long supply chain. The American banking system and, therefore, the global banking system, were in freefall.
America was engaged in two protracted wars.
The story of Mr. Obama's stewardship since then has not been one of seamless success but it has been one of slow, steady progress mixed with some significant achievements.
Economic recovery has been painfully slow. Unemployment remains too high, particularly in Northeast Pennsylvania. But there are, at last, more jobs nationally than when Mr. Obama took office. The unemployment rate has receded below 8 percent. Housing markets generally have improved. The auto industry and banks thrive.
It is the nature of politics that now, as Mr. Obama campaigns for re-election against Republican nominee Mitt Romney, one of the principal criticisms of the president's first term is the slow recovery and the stubborn unemployment rate.
The president does not govern alone, however. A Republican Senate minority that repeatedly misused the filibuster and, for two years, an obstructionist Republican House majority, blocked bills designed to retain and create jobs.
And many of Mr. Obama's critics today manage to float seamlessly between their contention that he hasn't tried hard enough to create jobs, but in trying to create jobs has created too much debt.
Overall, Mr. Obama's record amid some of the most pressing economic challenges in U.S. history is rather good, especially considering the political constraints...
http://thetimes-tribune.com/opinion/for-president-barack-obama-1.1394849
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I have fond memories of going to Scranton as a swing state volunteer.