I see this on facebook and other places: ""Gas under $3 a gallon – under $3 a gallon. Unemployment under 6%, whoever thought? Stock market breaking records every day. No wonder the guy is so unpopular.” Putting aside whether the White House gets credit for any of the developments, what exactly would a country moving “in the right direction” look like? Shouldn’t current conditions meet that standard?"

I got this latest version from a friend of mine, who is both liberal and reasonably well informed. Assuming she is serious, here is my answer:

1. Median income is down according to the Census Bureau and CNN.

2. Poverty in 2013 showed its first decline in the Obama years, down from 15% to 14.5% according to the same source. 

3. At the beginning of the Obama administration gas prices were $1.89. So today's sub-$3.00 price is not an improvement. 

4.The fact that the stock market is going well doesn't benefit Americans who are not investors and most investors are going to vote GOP anyway. 

If the poster is serious, the reason people think the country is going in the wrong direction is, because it is going in the wrong direction. No amount of selective amnesia or cherry picking statistics will make people will less income feel like they have more. 

Walt-in-Durham