After my foray, I actually find it funny how the Romney camp and everyone is debunking the 4.5 Million jobs created number the Democrats have put out there. Their rebuttal is that there has actually been only a net increase of 300,000 jobs since Obama took office because of jobs lost in his first year.
However, looking at it from an economic standpoint, the number is not wrong, and the Democrats shouldn't hide it. The real number is 4.5 Million jobs created *since the economy bottomed out in January 2010,* a year after Obama took office.
I can't rationalizing counting that first year against Obama. He was elected in November of 2008, and sworn in in January of 2009. But the market down-turn started in October of 2007, and escalated with the collapse in October of 2008.
*WARNING: Here comes a potentially offensive statement* To me, counting the jobs lost between January of 2009 and January of 2010 as being "Caused by Obama" is like blaming the 3,000+ deaths at the World Trade Center on G.W. Bush because he happened to be president when the Twin Towers were attacked. The economy had been falling for a full year before Obama was elected, and once it finally hit bottom the jobs did start coming back.
So in my opinion, 4.5 Million jobs were created WHILE Obama has been the President. The true question is were those jobs created BECAUSE Obama has been the President, and could there have been more jobs created if different policies had been enacted.
