This forum is riddled every day with vitriolic criticism of President Obama's "management" of the economy. Let's forget whether this president or any president can really manage the economy. But it might be worthwhile to look at some of the numbers so commonly used in forming the criticism of the president.

Job growth is a measure commonly used to judge the effect of presidential policy on the economy. Presidents are somewhat disadvantaged, as they initially take office inheriting both an economy and a federal budget created under the administration of their predecessor. In the case of President Obama, he took office at the height of the deepest recession, maybe even a depression, since the 1930's. But even at that, during his short 3-year administration more jobs were created than during the terms of ten previous presidents. And that includes Hoover, Coolidge, Ike, FDR, Bush 42 and George W. Bush. In fact, George W. Bush holds the record during his second term as being the only U.S. president who left office with fewer people employed than when he took office. And for Bush's first term he had the benefit of the robust economy he inherited from Bill Clinton. (These are records kept by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.)

Unemployment Rate is another statistic commonly used to criticize presidents. Again, these statistics are created by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since the first six months after President Obama took office, the percentage of people unemployed in the U.S. has consistently declined. The number of people unemployed in the country is still at a level far higher than historic norms. But in fact, whatever policies adopted by the current administration is resulting in consistent, albeit slow, reductions in the rate of unemployment in the U.S.

Economic Growth is another measure commonly used to evaluate the effect of presidential politics on the economy. Economic growth is measured as a percentage change in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or Gross National Product (GNP) from one period to the next. Since GDP bottomed out with negative growth during the six months after George W. Bush left office, there has been twenty-three straight months of growth in the U.S. economy, as measured by month-to-month GDP growth. GDP grew again in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 and is forecasted to continue that trend for the balance of the fiscal year.

There's nothing wrong with people opposing candidates of one political or economic persuasion or another. People can criticize how things were accomplished and at what pace--I have my own criticisms of the president along those lines. But at least when criticism is leveled, the facts used should be accurate. As someone here noted recently, people have a right to their own opinions, but not thier own facts.