Americans better off since Obama

It's not clear what triggered the recent change, but it's good news for Obama. The Obama administration could and should be doing a lot more to address the serious problem of a declining middle class, but compared to Romney, at least there's something for Americans who aren't part of the 1%. Healthcare Reform needs a lot of improvement but it's at least a start to fixing a system that no longer works.

Anyone who looks at the Romney plan has to know that it's a return to the shrub playbook of tax cuts for the rich and stagnation (at best) for everyone else. The repugicans keep talking about shredding Healthcare Reform, but nothing about how they will fix the healthcare problem. In this context, it would be hard to imagine anyone outside of the 1% being optimistic about Romney as president.

Bloomberg:

Forty-five percent of those surveyed in a Bloomberg National Poll say they are better off than at the beginning of 2009 compared with 36 percent who say they are worse off. In March, poll respondents split almost evenly on that question after having been decidedly negative since the aftermath of the worst recession in seven decades.

“I’m just tired of the doom and gloom,” says Jim Seeley, 52, a mortgage banker in Traverse City, Michigan, and a poll respondent, in a follow-up interview. “I think it’s looking better. People just need to stay positive.”

The poll, conducted June 15-18, contains more unlikely cheer for the president, with larger numbers of respondents saying their household income is higher than a year ago. While 44 percent say they are treading water, the better off outnumbered the worse off by 28 percent to 22 percent.