2008 v. 2012 in Six Charts

Four years ago, the economy was on the downslide and about to go into free fall. What became a painful recession and still-ongoing recovery could’ve been another Great Depression. And then President Obama and Democrats worked together to turn things around. Too many families are still struggling and more must be done, but it’s an undeniable fact that we’ve made a lot progress since 2008.

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would implement the same conservative policies that crashed the economy in the first place — only on a much grander scale. Here’s six charts to remind us what happened when conservatives last ran the show compared to where we are today under President Obama.

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You May Have Missed

Ten headlines from September 2008.

Ohio’s GOP Secretary of State is just ignoring a court order about early voting that he disagrees with.

Hypocrisy alert: Romney-Ryan robocall accuses President Obama of “changing [Medicare] forever.”

GOP Senate candidate: throw rape victims who get an abortion in jail for life.

Mitt Romney on whether we’re better off: “of course it’s getting better.”

Highlights from the Democratic Party’s official platform.

Exposed: the Tea Party’s deficit hypocrisy.

More questions about Mitt Romney’s highly questionable finances.

Trouble for Mitt Romney in Virginia.