JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- President Obama stood in the exact same spot as he did four years earlier and took the exact same oath.
Four years ago, a younger Barack Obama assumed the highest office in the land while millions throughout America hoped our lives would improve.
President Obama promised to lower the nation's soaring unemployment rate.
Nationally, that figure has remained unchanged from the 7.8% rate it was in January of 2009. But in Jacksonville, the unemployment rate of 8.4% on Inauguration Day 2009 has fallen to 7.4% in the River City.
Local college students are hoping to join that labor force upon graduation. But the cost of their education continues to skyrocket.
Annual tuition to a four-year college averages almost $30,000. Even when adjusted for inflation, that's up more than 12% over the past four years.
Nobody knows exactly how much that a president, Congress or anyone in the nation's capital has on prices of anything in particular.
Gas prices are always fluctuating as we know. But let's use Inauguration Day as a benchmark. Since President Obama's right hand went up during his oath of office four years ago, the price of gas has gone up, too. Regular unleaded gas in Jacksonville averaged $1.85 on Inauguration Day 2009. Today it's $3.42.
Four years ago we witnessed the worst Inauguration Day in the history of the stock market as the Dow Jones Industrial average fell to its lowest point in 14 years. Today the stock market is substantially healthier with the Dow over 13,600.
