In the New York Times, former conservative David Brooks responds to the leaked video of Mitt Romney talking about his electoral chances with the 47 percent of Americans who are going to vote for Obama because they have no "skin in the game" by referring to him as "Thurston Howell Romney."
It's cute. I'll give him that. We have already gone on record with our responses to the Romney video here and here.
But Thurston Howell Romney should still beat Gilligan Obama. Thurston was not entirely incompetent, after all. He managed to succeed at some things.
Let's take a look at whether or not Gilligan Obama has succeeded. Here are some economic stats that should matter more than any leaked video of a candidate talking to his supporters and simply saying the truth in a way that is uncomfortable to some.
Since Obama's inauguration:
- The U.S. had dropped in global competitiveness from 1st to 7th,
- Federal debt has increased by $6 trillion, or by 51%,
- The Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of inflation, has increased 9.1%,
- Food Stamp recipients have increased by 15 million, or up 46%,
- Americans in poverty have increased by 6.4 million,
- College tuition costs have increased 25%,
- Worker health insurance costs have increased by 23%,
- Home values have declined by 11%,
- Gas prices are up 107%,
- Middle class income has declined by $3,960 per household, and
- The long-term unemployed have increased by 2.3 million, or 87%.
That's incompetence on an unprecedented scale. And perhaps here is the clincher:
- From Truman to Bush, there have been only a total of 39 months where the unemployment rate was above 8 percent. Since Obama's inauguration, there have been 43 months with the unemployment rate above 8 percent.
As I said, Thurston Howell Romney should still beat Gilligan Obama.