HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Recession’s pain reaching deep into the economic recovery. “The buying power of Americans continues to be weaker than it was when the recession ended four years ago, underscoring the lasting damage wrought by the downturn, according to a report released Wednesday. Inflation-adjusted median household income has declined 4.4 percent, to $52,098, since June 2009, the official end of the recession, said the report by Sentier Research, an Annapolis data-analysis firm headed by two former Census Bureau officials.” Maybe we haven’t really “recovered” at all.