To the editor:

In a letter about whether this country is “better off” today vs. 2008 by Steve Bruner (Public Forum, Sept. 5), I, for one, strongly disagree. Perhaps some individuals are doing better, but certainly not the country and overall economy.

I agree with your statement of what poor memories we have. It seems like it was just yesterday that President Obama would not go along with the Keystone pipeline, a project that offered over 20,000 shovel-ready jobs, and assistance with energy security. President Obama said he will make his decision after the election. It’s disappointing he doesn’t display the courage to put our country’s best interests ahead of his own political agenda.

It also seems like just yesterday that the president was trying to force “cap and trade” on us. He couldn’t get his way with Congress, so he did a quick switch to have the DOE control it. The end result? Higher energy costs for coal-fire states. The Dow has made a significant comeback and let’s hope it continues, but are we better off with the housing crisis that still lingers, high unemployment (42 straight months over 8 percent) and the current soaring gas prices? What about a health care bill that the majority of the country would like to see repealed?

I could go on and on. I almost forgot about the president telling Russia’s Medvedev, “I will have more flexibility after the election,” which is code for no accountability.

Mr. Bruner, you’re entitled to your opinion, but as a country I do not believe we are even close to being better off.