Stats to Convert Swing States to the “R” Column
This is brilliant and should be sent to everyone in swing states considering whether to choose the Obama road again, or vote for the right polices…
From the Investor’s Business Daily:
On every indicator but one, blue states have done worse, on average, than red states.
In addition, IBD looked at the economic performance of 11 states that Real Clear Politics lists as tossups for the 2012 presidential election. Many of these purple battleground states have fared far worse than the country as a whole during the past three years.
Among the findings:
Job growth: The average increase for blue states was just 1.2% from June 2009 — the official start of the economic recovery — to March 2012. For red states, it was 1.9%. The national average was 1.8%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Unemployment: The jobless rate in March was 8.5% in blue states and 7.4% in red states, BLS data show.
Income: Blue states also did a bit worse when it came to per cap ita personal pay, rising 4.27% in 2011 compared with 4.35% in red states, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis data
GDP: The one measure where blue states outperformed was in gross domestic product growth, clocking an average 2.5% increase from 2009 to 2010 vs. red states’ 2.2%. State GDP figures for 2011 won’t come out until June.
Home prices: People living in liberal areas suffered the most when it came to housing prices. Over the past year, the housing price index fell 3.5% in blue states. The index edged up by 0.03% in conservative states. Nationwide, it was down 2.4%, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s House Price Index. Over the past five years, housing prices in red states fell 7.5%, but by 18.5% in blue states.
Gas prices: Blue states also suffer when it comes to gasoline. All but one of the 10 most expensive gas states voted for Obama in 2008. In contrast, all but one of the 10 cheapest gas states voted for McCain, according to gasoline price data from the AAA’s fuel gauge report. On average, blue state prices were 5% higher than those in red states.
