I Didn't Do My Fact Check, But...

Common Metrics of Prosperity January 2009 January 2011 % chg Source Avg. Retail price/gallon gas in U.S. $1.83 $3.95 115.8% 1 Crude oil, European Brent (bbl) $43.48 $99.02 127.7% 2 Crude oil, West TX Inter. (bbl) $38.74 $91.38 135.9% 2 Gold (oz. troy) $853.25 $1,504.50 90.5% 2 Corn $3.56 $6.33 78.1% 2 Soybeans $9.66 $13.75 42.3% 2 Sugar $13.37 $35.39 164.7% 2 Unemployment rate, non-farm, overall 7.6% 9.4% 23.7% 3 Unemployment rate, blacks 12.6% 15.8% 25.4% 3 Number of unemployed 11,616,000 14,485,000 24.7% 3 Number of federal Employees 2,779,000 2,840,000 2.2% 3 Real median household income $50,112 $49,777 -0.7% 4 Number of food stamp recipients 31,983,716 43,200,878 35.1% 5 Number of unemployment benefit recipients 7,526,598 9,193,838 22.2% 6 Number of long-term unemployed 2,600,000 6,400,000 146.2% 3 Poverty rate, individuals 13.2% 14.3% 8.3% 4 People in poverty in U.S. 39,800,000 43,600,000 9.5% 4 U.S. Rank v. World in Economic Freedom 5 9 -80% 10 Present Situation Index 29.9 23.5 -21.4% 11 Failed banks (in past 12 months) 140 164 17.1% 12 U.S.. Dollar v. Japanese yen exchange rate 89.76 82.03 -8.6% 2 U.S.. Money supply, M1, in billions 1,575.1 1,865.7 18.4% 13 U.S.. Money supply, M2, in billions 8,310.9 8,852.3 6.5% 13 National debt, in trillions $10.627 $14.052 32.2% 14 Just take this last item: In the last two years we have accumulated national debt more than 27 times faster than during the previous 233 years of our national history.

Metaphorically speaking, if you were driving in the right lane doing 65 mph and a car passed you going 27 times faster, it would be doing 1,755 mph!

Sources:
(1) U.S. Energy Information Administration; (2) Wall Street Journal; (3)Bureau of Labor Statistics; (4) Census Bureau; (5) USDA; (6) U.S. Dept. Of Labor; (7) FHFA; (8) Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller; (9) RealtyTrac; (10)Heritage Foundation and WSJ; (11) The Conference Board; (12) FDIC; (13)Federal Reserve; (14) U.S. Treasury