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Title: Obama shouldn't blame Bush for recession
Source:
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URL Source: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/o ... ecession-766732-102351574.html
Published: Sep 7, 2010
Author: Thomas Sowell
Post Date: 2010-09-07 14:18:07 by no gnu taxes
Keywords: None
Views: 443
Comments: 7
President Obama boldly proclaims, "The buck stops here!" But, whenever his policies are criticized, he acts as if the buck stopped with President Bush. The party line that we are likely to be hearing from now until the November elections is that Obama "inherited" the big federal budget deficits and that he has to "clean up the mess" left in the economy by the Republicans. This may convince those who want to be convinced, but it will not stand up under scrutiny. No president can create either a budget deficit or a budget surplus. All spending bills originate in the House of Representatives and all taxes are voted into law by Congress. Democrats controlled both houses of Congress before Obama became president. The deficit he inherited was created by the congressional Democrats, including Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who did absolutely nothing to oppose the runaway spending. He was one of the biggest of the big spenders. The last time the federal government had a budget surplus, Bill Clinton was president, so it was called "the Clinton surplus." But Republicans controlled the House of Representatives, where all spending bills originate, for the first time in 40 years. It was also the first budget surplus in more than a quarter of a century. The only direct power that any president has that can affect deficits and surpluses is the power to veto spending bills. Bush did not veto enough spending bills but Sen. Obama and his fellow Democrats in control of Congress were the ones who passed the spending bills. Today, with Obama in the White House, allied with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in charge in Congress, the national debt is a bigger share of the national output than it has been in more than half a century. And its share is projected to continue going up for years to come, becoming larger than national output in 2012. Having created this scary situation, Obama now says, "Don't give in to fear. Let's reach for hope." The voters reached for hope when they elected Obama. The fear comes from what he has done since taking office. "The worst thing we could do is to go back to the very same policies that created this mess in the first place," he said recently. "In November, you're going to have that choice." Another political fable is that the current economic downturn is due to not enough government regulation of the housing and financial markets. But it was precisely the government regulators, under pressure from politicians, who forced banks and other lending institutions to lower their standards for making mortgage loans. These risky loans, and the defaults that followed, were what set off a chain reaction of massive financial losses that brought down the whole economy. Was this due to George W. Bush and the Republicans? Only partly. Most of those who pushed the lowering of mortgage lending standards were Democrats-- notably Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., though too many Republicans went along. At the heart of these policies were Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who bought huge amounts of risky mortgages, passing the risk on from the banks that lent the money (and made the profits) to the taxpayers who were not even aware that they would end up paying in the end. When President Bush said in 2004 that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be reined in, 76 members of the House of Representatives issued a statement to the contrary. These included Frank, Pelosi, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. If we are going to talk about "the policies that created this mess in the first place," let's at least get the facts straight and the names right. The current policies of the Obama administration are a continuation of the same reckless policies that brought on the current economic problems-- all in the name of "change." Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are still sacred cows in Washington, even though they have already required the biggest bailouts of all. Why? Because they allow politicians to direct vast sums of money where it will do politicians the most good, either personally or in terms of buying votes in the next election.
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#1. To: no gnu taxes (#0)
How many spending bills did Bush veto, and have his veto overridden, from Jan 2007- Jan 2009?
One word: VETO. Bush vetoed 12 bills in 8 years. Jerry Ford vetoed 66 bills in two years. Bush was a RECKLESS big spender who loves big government just as much as Obama and the Democrats. Spin all you want but there is no denying the facts. Bush was a disaster, just like Obama
I've come to the conclusion that people are just about as smart as Republicans think they are.
yep
Was Bush for nationalizing health care? Was Bush for cap and tax? Your argument is absurd.
Was Bush for nationalizing health care? Bush created the first new entitlement program since LBJ. The program was about health care -- prescription drugs for the greedy geezer lobby. Was Bush for cap and tax? The Bush senior White House drafted the first carbon trading bill in the United States.
And the Conservative plan to create jobs is......?????
#2. To: war, skip intro, brian s, lucysmom (#1)
And the Conservative plan to create jobs is......?????
#3. To: no gnu taxes (#0)
(Edited)
The deficit he inherited was created by the congressional Democrats
the era of big government is over -- Bill Clinton
#4. To: go65 (#2)
#5. To: lucysmom (#4)
(Edited)
And the Conservative plan to create jobs is......?????
#6. To: jwpegler (#3)
Bush was a RECKLESS big spender who loves big government just as much as Obama and the Democrats
#7. To: no gnu taxes (#6)
the era of big government is over -- Bill Clinton
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