"Before The Crash"

Has anyone heard this phrase?
"Before the crash"
As in "Oh, you got hired before the crash" Yep, someone said that to me this week at work.

 I was at a friends home yesterday, we were talking about our townships home reassessments. Our homes were assessed "before the crash" so real estate taxes here in New Jersey are based on pre-2006 prices. Prices no one can get for their homes anymore. So from what I've heard, the "rates" will go up but our home values will go down.
Then there's this, Citing $807 Million Budget Gap, Fitch Downgrades NJ Bond Rating - NJ Spotlight
Basically, this state is  broke, but politicians and government officials, are living the same way they used to "before the crash" Because, "it's coming back." I suggested to one of my optimistic "it's coming back" friends that this state is as broke as Detroit.
 One of the biggest problems in my state? Moving vans taking people out of state in droves, survey finds | NJ.com People are leaving, they can't afford to stay.
Basically I feel like I live in a different country. This is one of the reasons why,
 "With a labor growth rate in the private sector of 3.8 percent from February 2010 to March 2014, the Garden State is tied with Mississippi for 48th in the nation, the review found."
I am completely confused by articles like this, Unemployment rate falls, but for wrong reasons - May. 2, 2014 because where I work, we have only hired part time employees.
" the unemployment rate told a more discouraging story. That number, which comes from a survey of households, shows fewer Americans are joining the labor force and fewer people report they're employed."
So when I read this; Jobs Report: U.S. Economy Added 288K Jobs In April, Unemployment Down To 6.3%
It's like this country runs on bullshit and lies, because where I am, the employment rate is this;

All you Republicans out there, who just love Chris Christie, take a good look at Jersey, cause this is what you're in for. But it's not like there's any difference between him and Barack Obama except for Christie's weight problem. When one of the best economists in this country spells out the big problem we have, Why Economics Failed - NYTimes.com
he said that John Boehner and President Obama decided to handle our economy the same way. Now somebody tell me that these people aren't carrying water for rich people and corporations. So things are never going to change "or come back."
 What is the use of voting for people who say they are democrats and then act like republicans? The real dirty secret is that the rich no longer need a middle class, since billionaires don't make anything here anymore. They make money in financial markets and derivatives. They make money despite how poorly everyone else is doing. Any manufacturing that is going on happens in other countries.  Forget "it's coming back" It's gone. Like Christie's inflated expectations of "it's coming back" with an $800 million gap, things are much worse than what we are being told.
It's so strange that real people in everyday life call anything pre-2008 "before the crash" however, you will never hear a government official say that.
For the wealthy and politicians, "before the crash" is where they still live. While the rest if us can just dream about "it's coming back."