Recession: Past or Present?

Bloomberg notes that President Obama routinely describes the recession as both a current condition and an historical event

The president “has toggled between the past and present in the more than 235 references to the economy he has made since Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives one year ago… Obama’s inconsistency could complicate his effort to convince voters the economy has improved and that he deserves a second term, said economists and polling experts. His task, they said, is to talk up the economy, without talking down to the voters who are struggling under it.”