Speak Out: Are You Better Off Than Four Years Ago?

Exactly four years ago this month, the bottom dropped out of the U.S. economy.

Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy on Sept. 15, 2008. The next day, the Federal Reserve announced a bailout of AIG. Bad news continued to pile up almost daily, with the stock market collapsing and millions of jobs vanishing.

South Carolina's unemployment rate was on the way up. At 7.5 percent in September 2008, it was on its way to nearly 12 percent a year later. In August of this year, it was slightly below 10 percent.

On this four-year anniversary, incumbent Barack Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney are targeting swing states such as North Carolina, Florida and Pennsylvania. But millions of South Carolinians also will head to the polls in five weeks.

No single factor will define such a complex process as selection of a president, but none might be greater than the simple question: Are you better off than four years ago?

Is the improvement enough to help President Barack Obama win reeelction? Or can Mitt Romney capitalize on an economy that’s still a far cry from when Obama took office?

Tell us in the comments whether you're better off.