Are you better off today than you were 4 years ago

[PrisonerOfHope]

No.   I was unemployed for two of the last four years (two separate job losses).  One tech job was outsourced.   I had to sell a home and still wound up 100K in debt.   Absolutely no health care for 3 years.   I've recently gone back to work at about 2/3 of prior salary.   Half the people I know have had similar experiences in their family.  Everyone knows somone who's been through hard times.

I'll agree success requires persistance and effort, but those do not guarantee it.   Some people were unlucky and lost their job regardless of the quality of their work and effort.  With no new hiring they were locked out.

Bush didn't cause the recession, but I and a lot of other people think he could have done a lot more than promise that when the taxs cuts for the wealthy are completely phased in over the next ten years that things would improve.

He's certainly no Roosevelt.   Whatever your economic philosophy, you have to be prepared to put it aside to get results.   Bush did nothing.