America, why is that we had to “stay the course” for an eight year ride to bottom of an enormous recession but two years into an albeit very slow recovery we have to change horses in mid stream?

I’m not saying that you’re wrong.  I just want to understand.  It seems to me like a double standard, but maybe I’m missing something?

Is it unemployment?  In 2008, we lost an average of 317,250 private sector jobs per month. In 2010, we have gained an average of 95,888 private sector jobs per month. (Source) That's a difference of nearly five million jobs between Bush's last year in office and President Obama's second year.  Just today it was reported that 150K jobs were added in October. (See CNNMoney.com and Washington Monthly.)

Is it the deficit?  When Bill Clinton left office in 2001, the budgets for 2009-12 were expected to have an average surplus of almost $850 Billion.  When Bush came into office one of the first things he did was to cut taxes.  Unfortunately, because of this, there was not nearly enough tax revenue to pay for his agenda which included the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Medicare prescription drug coverage (socialized medicine).  This increased the deficit by $637 billion. 

The wall street bailout in 2008 which was signed by Bush and supported by President Obama added another $185 billion.  The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan which Obama continues to fight but were started during the previous administration added another $232 billion.

The only additions to the deficit that were completely a product of the Obama administration are the $145 billion for the economic stimulus and another $56 billion for other programs.  That’s a total of $201 billion which is not extraordinary compared to some of the other deficit causing measures over the past 10 years mentioned above. (See The Atlantic)

Is it the stock market? On Bush's final day in office, the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 closed at 7,949, 1,440, and 805, respectively. Today, they are at 11,444, 2,579, and 1,226 which are the highest they’ve been in 2 years.  (See CNNMoney.com)

Is it healthcare?  Has any of the new healthcare law even gone into affect yet?  Well, yes, some provisions have taken affect. 

Insurance companies, for example, will be prohibited from canceling policies when customers get sick or from denying coverage to sick children. Some insurers have said they will stop selling policies exclusively for children rather than comply.

The law will allow parents to keep their adult children up to age 26 on their family plans, and will bar insurers from placing lifetime caps on how much they will pay when their customers get ill.

And many consumers will get new rights to appeal claims that are denied by insurers and win new access to preventive care without being asked for co-pays. (See LA Times)

Are these the provisions that people don’t like?  Has anybody been adversely affected by these provisions?

So, America, what is it?  What’s so bad that it just couldn’t wait?  Have the last two years really been all that different than the previous eight?  Never mind better or worse, have they really been different?   I want to know.  What is it that I’m missing?