DJH: Ive become ambivalent about Obamas latest Election 2010 stump speech; you know the one that goes:
[Conservatives] spent a decade driving the economy into a ditch. And now theyre asking for the keys back. And my answer is, no, you cant have the keys. You cant drive. You dont know how to drive. You drive in the wrong direction. You cant have them back. Were just getting the car out of the ditch. We cant have you drive it back in the ditch.
Im ambivalent because this stupid line is clearing failing to pass the sniff test with all but the most virulent liberal audiences and Im hoping he keeps it up everywhere goes its winning votes for fiscal conservatives.
Another reason Im ambivalent is because its a complete lie and one that can easily be disproved; just follow me.
January 20, 2007 Nancy Pelosi Named Speaker of the House
Despite Obamas clever repartee, fiscal 2006 was the last year that Bush and the republicans owned the federal budget and thus the deficit. Any and all spending and appropriations enacted after January 20, 2007 were done by Speaker of The House Ms. Nancy Pelosi. In case you missed it, Pelosi was no lap dog for Bush.
Also, prior to being thrown out of office by John Thune on January 20th, 2004, Tom Daschle earned the title of Mr. Obstructionist by blocking just about all of Bushs economic agenda; specifically, he delayed the Bush tax cuts by over a year.
So, contrary to Obamas latest skit, Bush and the republicans did not own the budget (and thus the economy) for the past decade. They only owned it for the four-year period from January 20th 2003 to January 20th 2007, and the US economy did very, very well during that four-year period. The Onslaught of Pelosis Runaway Debt
Compare what happened to our annual deficit (and national debt) during the Bush era versus the Pelosi era:
At Least Bush Grew The Economy!
As I have said before, I like most of what Bush did up until the Harriet Miers nomination for the SCOTUS, after that not so much. Way too much spending. That said, unlike Obama, Bush grew the economy to help pay for his big government spending: