On January 24, 2009, President Obama gave his first weekly address to the nation, specifically dealing with the economic meltdown and ways to get some help to those who needed it most, fast.

In my case, the Recovery Act subsidies for COBRA premiums helped us stay afloat, though ultimately the insurance company made sure we wouldn't get to keep that coverage.

Other headlines from that day:

Amid Economic Fears, Gun Sales Booming

Slow Economy Hitting Bay Area Dockworkers

Starbucks May Face More Layoffs

Car dealers try to survive as economy, sales drop

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 8077.56 the day before, and millions more became unemployed by the end of the month.

Sometimes it's helpful to look back at where we were, particularly since the Beltway has such a tendency to forget anything that didn't happen yesterday.

I think I'll make this a semi-regular feature, just to remind us all it was a hell of a lot worse then than it is now.