Am I better off than I was four years ago? Let's see, President Obama was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2009. On that day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 7,949.09. The Dow closed at 13,306 on Friday.

As a retiree who relies heavily on investment income, I would have to say I'm much better off than I was when Obama took office. In fact, the entire business climate in America is remarkably favorable.

Many corporations are reporting strong earnings; stock prices are moving back toward their all-time 2007 highs; corporate executives are taking home excellent compensation packages, and modest shareholders like myself are benefiting, too.

Meanwhile, real wages for rank-and-file workers have been in steady decline since 2000. We hear from the Wall Street Journal and the Republican Party that the president is antibusiness and that the economy is a basket case. Businesses not only decline to hire additional employees, but some with robust balance sheets continue to lay off workers

Why do you think that is? Could it be that the business elite in this country hopes to get a better regulatory and/or tax deal from a Republican administration? Could it be that they're just sitting on their enormous hoards of cash so as not to do anything that could possibly benefit the president? Just asking.


WARD LYNDALL, MINNEAPOLIS