ANYONE WHO has lived through the last four years knows the tragic trajectory of our economy and the futility of this administration's policies regarding job growth. And as much as the president's re-election campaign has tried to change the subject with a barrage of false attack ads against Mitt Romney, poll after poll suggests that the overriding concern of the American people remains the economy.

To be sure, the current administration has gone in for government intervention as the overriding theme of its economic policy. Unfortunately, during its time in the White House, such intervention has proven to be useless at best, and counterproductive at worst. It is also the reason we need a change at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

There are four significant areas where the president's government-first, liberty-last policies have failed us: energy, health care, banking, and stimulus.

Energy fuels our economic activity on the most basic level. Without secure, abundant sources of energy, businesses cannot plan, prices go up, and job growth suffers. Our whole economy languishes.

Yet the president came into office with a stated goal of decreasing the national reliance of fossil fuels, particularly coal, and "investing" in green energy sources. What became of this plan?

For starters, it has led to a war on coal that has turned us all into economic casualties. Coal provides not only 40 percent of American electricity but thousands of jobs (including right here in Virginia), as well as important price competition for other sources of energy. EPA regulations have blocked the construction of new, cleaner coal plants.

Moreover, the current administration has prevented any new drilling off our coasts, costing Virginia thousands of jobs as well as more domestic sources of energy. It then "doubled down" on its bet against oil by preventing the construction of the Keystone pipeline, which could have given us access to cheap fuel from our friendly neighbors in Canada and created thousands of jobs here in the U.S. Instead, Canada is looking to sell its oil to Asia, and gas prices now sit at $3.49 in our region, higher than the levels seen on Inauguration Day.

Meanwhile, the government's "green investments" in companies like Solyndra have been proved to be politically tainted, totally ineffective, and a waste of taxpayer money.

HEALTH CARE 'REFORM'?