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Like it or not, America has made measurable progress under President Obama. (AP Photo | Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

It's a new year - a time for reflection. All the Republican presidential candidates have been calling to restore America's greatness, as though Barack Obama torpedoed it the moment he took office in 2009. They are marketing themselves on a sense of nostalgia.



So how badly is America really doing? Let's take a look at the facts.



A few basic truths about 2015: Unemployment is down. The national deficit is down, too. Sixteen million people got health coverage. We reduced climate emissions, and got the first-ever global agreement to do so.



These are all achievements we can objectively measure.

Yes, Obama has made his share of mistakes. Obamacare is a real advance, but it's also an ugly mousetrap that everyone agrees is far too complex. The President has been unsteady in foreign affairs in the Middle East, particularly when it comes to Syria. But on the big pillars of his presidency, he's standing strong, even by Republicans' own yardstick.



In 2012, Mitt Romney promised that after a period of four years, he'd implement polices to "get the unemployment rate down to 6 percent -- perhaps a little lower." Reporters called it a "bold claim" at the time. But Obama has already done this, in less than four years. Unemployment, which was 8.1 percent, is now more than a little lower, at 5.0 percent.





Since Obama took office, the economy has added nearly 8.4 million jobs -- more than six times the number gained under George W. Bush. The deficit has been cut by a third since 2013. The stock market has risen by 50 percent. His health reform law, however complicated, is a big improvement over the days when 50 million lacked coverage and costs were spiraling.



Think about all that when you hear Ted Cruz ask how we can "bring back economic growth," or Carly Fiorina say "innovation and entrepreneurship is crushed," and "Obamacare isn't helping anyone." Really?



What else: Teen pregnancy rates have dropped. We're doing better on energy independence, too. The U.S. used to import 11 million barrels of oil a day, which is now down to 4.5. We're generating more electricity by wind and solar power, and the increase in solar has been particularly good: Our country generated 27 times more electricity that way in the most recent 12 months than in the year before Obama took office.



Gas prices are down, from $4.11 per gallon in 2008 to $2.40 in 2015--the second lowest average price of the last 10 years. So are Iran's nuclear centrifuges: once 19,000, soon to be under 6,000. U.S. economic growth, measured by the GDP, went up from -0.3 percent in 2008 to 3.7 percent.

And thanks to Obama's highly successful military raid in Pakistan and auto bailout at home, "Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive," as Joe Biden put it.



So why are Republicans calling for a return to the glory days? Donald Trump wants to "Make America Great Again," and Jeb Bush says "There's not a place in the world where we're better off today than six and a half years ago."



Do they really prefer America before Obama, with wars and economic disaster? Are those the good ol' days we want to restore?



Let's hope that's not our resolution for 2016.

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