printJust in case ditto heads are still blaming Obama for the economic depression we’re in, here’s a reality check, and an excerpt from the CNN documentary, “I.O.U.S.A.”:
January 1, 2000, Federal Debt: $5.6 Trillion Dollars.
George W. Bush is declared the winner of the 2000 election.
One of his first priorities is pushing a large tax cut.
September 11, the attacks put the U.S. on war footing.
Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq cost hundreds of billions.
May 1, 2003, Federal debt: $6.5 trillion.
Through Bush’s first term, the Fed cuts interest rates 12 times. [Creating the glut of malinvestment and spending]
The dollar begins a long, steep decline against other currencies.
Cheap credit floods the housing market.
Many home buyers grab risky, non-fixed mortgages. [Helped along by existing federal laws, to which Bush added,mandating loans to risky minorities]
The war drags on.
Bush signs into law Medicare-D, an expensive drug benefit program.
Bush wins re-election on November 3, 2004.
Federal debt: About $10.7 trillion and 75 percent of GDP.
Federal deficit: $455 billion … and now we’re talking trillions for several years going forward.
[Snip]
As we’ve pointed, the totality of US government liabilities exceeds the worth of its citizens.
Also pointed out in this space, years back, is that with an extremely high debt-to-GDP ratio, the US would not be admitted to the company of socialists: the EU. The US’s debt is about 75 percent of its GDP.
I’m often asked what is to be expected under these dire circumstances.
Assets will continue to devalue. Saving will be difficult; retirement near impossible, because, with the continuing devaluation of the dollar, savings depreciate. Hyperinflation is a very real threat, as the amount of goods in the economy decreases, and the supply of worthless paper increases.
Now Obama’s thinking is wrongheaded: he is as clueless as Republicans about the economy and will only prolong the agony. Nevertheless, “I didn’t do it” (Bart Simpson’s famous phrase) is an appropriate defense of Barack.
Update: In response to comments. I do hope the Addiction to that Rush is not on display.
So it’s Obama’s deficit as it is Bush’s??? ‘Cmon; don’t be a ditto head. As bad as he is, Obama is probably one of the least influential politicians to date, given his short tenure in office. (He is destined to change that, of course.) Didn’t ditto heads make that very point in arguing against his candidacy?
This is not about giving anyone a pass. However, spreading irresponsibility is just what ditto heads and democrats like. This allows their respective point men and women to continue to commit legalized crimes, because responsibility in government is always socialized. “Don’t play the blame game” is the political parasite’s favored term.
No, Obama was a relatively obscure politician until now. Bush and Cheney—they ought to have been impeached. Blame for the depression belongs to their administration and to its foreign, fiscal and monetary policy.
To collectivize responsibility and spread it around equally is to oblige the political operatives, and reward them for their crimes. That’s precisely what they want. You’ve fallen into their trap. I’m afraid responsibility must be assigned with laser-like precision.
While on the issue of history, not revisionism, one more thing: The only commentators deserving credit for warning of the financial crisis are my fractious political tribe—not all, but certain libertarians and assorted paleos. And Ron Paul always. Of course, because, other than Paul, we are relatively unknown, the likes of Stephen Moore, who wrote odes to Bush’s “ownership society,” can remake themselves into all-knowing gurus, without crediting their betters.
No one in the age of the idiot will be the wiser.
There are only a few politicians alive who can escape blame for the mess we are in and not that many more US citizens. Only a few politicians have consistently voted against spending money foolishly. And how many US citizens demanded that the Government NOT spend money on programs they benefited from?
Obama is one of the worst of the politicians. So yes it is his deficit just as it belongs to each of those clowns who have voted for foolishness like No Child Left Behind, Medicare-D, those who voted to allow illegals to gain access to free programs, those who in 65 decided to open the gates to illegals, those who decided that a progressive income tax was a good idea, those…well you get the idea.
No politician who backed that crap is blameless and I won’t allow them to avoid blame.
Let’s remember that Obama wasn’t exactly slaving away in the private sector during these years. He’s been a senator, and I would venture to guess that he supported any program that involved more government spending and power.
If he had Ron Paul’s voting record, I’d be willing to give him a pass. As it is, he’s part of the problem. And who will he blame a few years from now when the dollar is worthless and the economy is in the tank?
You’ve fallen into their trap. I’m afraid responsibility must be assigned with laser-like precision.
Without a doubt Bush has done a lot wrong. But he didn’t do it alone. The people of the United States who never said no to a program that benefited their business share the blame as do all the politicians who believed that money grows on trees.
[Correct you are.–IM]
I expect 8 years of hypocritical preening from out-of-power Dittohead Republicans who will deny that Bush was the John the Baptist of Deficit Bailout Spending to Obama’s Jesus. This country drifts between Scylla and Charybdis – the plutocratic-theocratic-quasi-fascistic statists (called Republicans) and the academic-secular-quasi-socialistic statists (called Democrats. The primary raison d’etre of both political parties is to Rule the Planet for the Elevation of their Power and (alleged) betterment of Mankind.
It’s always interesting to look at Rush’s take on how things got so bad. You’d think the Republicans and our moronic president were forced at the point of a gun to make all these stupid decisions, or even better, didn’t have a thing to do with them. Bush never saw a spending bill he didn’t sign, and like. He’s the prototype of a Democrat. Yet, Bush was hated by the Dems for doing exactly what they intent to do. Bush is loved by many Republicans for doing exactly what the Dems are going to do. Even a touch of rationality could get us out of this depression but the chances of that happening seem slight.
[Could not have said it better.–IM]
That the plans of Barack Obama will prolong the misery is undeniable. My limited understanding of economics (although with the mises.org site, my education is better) indicates that anything the government does to improve the economy ends up harming it. That was proven during the Roosevelt administration.