Despite Rising Costs, Obama Campaign Claims We’re Better Off

CNN’s Candy Crowley:"But I want to move you on to something else the President said during the campaign. Again, this was the one from Leesburg, Virginia, where he was asking that age old question are you better off?”

Candidate Obama:"Wages are lower than they’ve been in a decade, at a time when the cost of healthcare and college have never been higher. It’s getting harder and harder to make the mortgage or fill up your gas tank or even keep the electricity on at the end of the month. At this rate, the question isn’t are you better off than you were four years ago. It’s are you better off than you were four weeks ago.”

Crowley: "Ok. So we are now at a place where the economy is creating jobs, which he also talked about there.”

Senior Obama Campaign Advisor Robert Gibbs: "A place we’ve been for 29 months, 4.5 million new jobs, yes.”

Crowley:"But wages are lower than they were when he took office. The cost of health care is higher. The cost of college is higher. We all know what has happened to the housing market. So the question is, why should Americans look at this and say to themselves, am I better off than I was four years ago, since all of those mile markers that he put up there have gone south?”

Gibbs: "Well, let’s be clear, Candy. The President has taken dramatic steps that will help lower our health care costs. The President has countless number of times passed legislation and ideas to reduce the burden that students have and middle class families have to borrow money to go to college.”

(CNN’s"State Of The Union,” 8/5/12)

College Costs: Since President Obama Took Office, The Average Cost Of In-State Tuition At A Four Year College Has Risen From $6,585 To $8,244, A 25 Percent Increase. (“Trends In College Pricing 2009,” College Board, 2008;"Trends In College Pricing 2011,” College Board, 2011)

Student Loan Debt: The Federal Reserve Of New York Found That 27 Percent Of Student Loan Borrowers Have Past Due Balances And 21 Percent Are Delinquent. (Meta Brown, Andrew Haughwout, Donghoon Lee, Maricar Mabutas, And Wilbert van der Klaauw,"Grading Student Loans,” Federal Reserve Bank Of New York, 3/5/12)

Health Care Premiums: Under Obama, The Cost Of Family Health Care Premiums Has Increased From $13,375 To $15,073. (Phil Galewitz And Andrew Villegas,"Workers Face Higher Costs For Employer-Sponsored Insurance,” Kaiser Health News, 9/15/09; Julie Appleby,"Cost Of Employer Insurance Plans Surge In 2011,” Kaiser Health News, 9/27/11)

Median Household Income:"Real Median Household Income In March Was Down $4,300 Since Obama Took Office In January 2009 ...” (Mike Dorning,"Obama Fails To Stem Middle-Class Slide He Blamed On Bush,” Bloomberg, 4/30/12)

Food Prices: Since Obama Became President, The Monthly Price Of A Moderate-Cost Food Plan For A Family Of Four With Young Children Has Increased From $819.40 To $858.50. (“Official USDA Food Plans: Cost Of Food At Home At Four Levels, U.S. Average, January 2009,” USDA, 2/09;"Official USDA Food Plans: Cost Of Food At Home At Four Levels, U.S. Average, May 2012,” USDA, 6/12)

Government Assistance:"49.1%: Percent Of The Population That Lives In A Household Where At Least One Member Received Some Type Of Government Benefit In The First Quarter Of 2011.” (Phil Izzo,"Number Of The Week: Half Of U.S. Lives In Household Getting Benefits,” The Wall Street Journal’s"Real Time Economics,” 5/26/12)

Food Stamps: Since President Obama Took Office, The Number Of Americans Receiving Food Stamps Has Increased From 31.9 Million To 46.5 Million, A 45 Percent Increase. (Department Of Agriculture, 7/26/12)

Poverty: 97.3 Million Americans Now Qualify As Low-Income And Another 49.1 Million Are In Poverty; Together, 146.4 Million Americans Or 48 Percent Of The Population. (Hope Yen,"Census Shows 1 In 2 People Are Poor Or Low-Income,” The Associated Press, 12/15/11)

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