The Lamer Blame Game ☀
jgapinoy wrote:
Yes, BHO did inherit some huge problems (most of which he made worse). The economic recession had causes from both the recent as well as distant past. President Bush spent way too much money (not nearly as much as Obama is on track to spend)…
Not according to the conservative Cato Institute:
…what hurt the economy more were the Clinton-era liberal programs forcing mortgage lenders to lend to many thousands of seriously under-qualified folks, which led to the housing bubble growing and popping.
Not to entirely absolve Clinton of blame (though the coalition of Republican and blue dog Democrats spearheaded the loosening of regulations, thrusted by a boatload of finance/insurance/real estate lobbyist dollars), it was President Bush that touted his “ownership society” and “pushed hard to expand homeownership, especially among minorities”. In 2004, Bush campaigned for re-election on the back of subprime mortgages. The Bush administration pushed hard for using “the mighty muscle of the federal government…to encourage owning your own home.” These measures included tax credits, down payment assistance, vouchers, financial education, regulatory reforms, and pressure on the private sector.
Maybe there is an argument that Bush was not responsible for the housing bubble bust. But, of the four Presidents over that period of time, President George W. Bush is the one with the seemingly greatest culpability. Not just because this crisis happened on his watch — although that is reason enough to give him a fair share of responsibility. More significantly, the basis of his culpability is that he shared Greenspan’s and Gramm’s radical belief system — that markets could police themselves, and that all regulation was inherently bad. This philosophy colored all of the President’s appointments to key supervisory positions, as well as his legislative agenda.
The one we need to go back to is President Reagan. Let’s cut spending*, cut taxes, protect human life from conception to natural death, and project American strength around the world. At least Bush did three out of the four. Right now we’re doing none of them.
As the post author notes in his footnotes, Reagan did not cut spending, despite wanting to. But that’s a major distortion of the record — many years, Reagan implored Congress for a bigger budget, not smaller.
On taxes, it is a popular misconception that Reagan lowered taxes. Yes, federal income taxes were lowered. But the tax burden for the average worker actually increased, as FICA (social security) taxes were raised significantly, and in four separate instances, in the years after the initial tax cuts, tax increases were imposed. Also, state taxes increased, as federal dollars going to state coffers diminished in the 1980s.
Regarding abortion, during the Reagan presidency, the number of legal abortions increased by 5%. Under Clinton, they dropped by 36%. And on the matter of promoting a culture of life, let’s not forget about Bush the executioner, mocking a death row inmate, when he was in power to commute the sentence and a president that showed such a Christian disregard for life in his championing of torture.
Project American strength around the world?
But let’s fast forward to 2010, where the Republicans again betrayed the very principles they espouse on smaller government and fiscal responsibility.
That leads us to the other vote of the day. The senate voted on so-called “pay-as-you-go” budget rules that require that tax cuts or spending increases be matched by spending cuts or tax increases. In other words, Congress has to pay for what it enacts. It was these rules, which prevailed during the ‘90’s, that were largely responsible for the record budget surpluses inherited by President Bush. And it was Bush and a Republican Congress allowing those rules to lapse in 2002 that cleared the way for the record budget deficits that followed. The measure passed the Senate today 60-40, on a straight party line vote. Again, not a single Republican voted for this fiscal discipline. Not one. Not Olympia Snowe or Susan Collins or Mr. Fiscal Responsibility, Judd Gregg or “Maverick” John McCain.
You’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.
