Our economy is in the pits! Over the past 21/2 years a lot has been said about the origin of the poor economy. Again last night, former Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs was asked to comment on the state of the economy. He went back to the old refrain that it was Bush's fault. I would like to examine this whole idea of the poor economy being Bush's fault.
What did Bush do to ruin the economy? I will examine several possible answers to this very question to see where the answers lead us.
1.) He had us fighting in 2 wars. Wars cost. Wars cost a lot. They cost the tax payers money. They cost soldiers their lives. These wars almost cost GWB a second term in office. It may be said that these wars were factors that lead us into a bad economy.
2.) Bush spent too much. Spending money on wars. Spending money on prescription drugs for seniors. Spending money in general increased our deficit. The deficit could be said to have lead us into a bad economy.
3.) Tax cuts twice during the Bush presidency may have lead us into the bad economy.
Depending on which economists you talk to any of these three or the combination of any of these three policy items could very well have lead us into a bad economy. When Bush left office unemployment was at 7.1%. The housing bubble was starting to burst. Deficits were mounting. TARP spending had occurred.
In 2008 we elected a new president who ran on a campaign slogan of Hope & Change. The American people wanted a change in political parties. They wanted a change in philosophy. They wanted a change from the old guard in Washington D.C. from a family dynasty to a new face who had been a U.S. Senator for less than 2 years when he started running for the office of the President of the United States of America. They put their Hope in Barack Husein Obama. Let's look at the conditions that are in place now and what they have done to change the status of the economy.
1.) Obama has put us into 4 wars now. The continuation of Iraq and Afganastan have gone against the promises to the "Left" that we would end them and be out has not come true. The spending has mounted and continued. The loss of life and other casualties have also continued.
2.) The deficit has doubled in the last 2 years compared to the 8 years under the Bush presidency. We've had 2 stimulous bills that did more to stimulate the government than they did to stimulate the American economy. The stimulous spending was suppose to guarantee unemployment not to rise over 8%, but has now found its way up to 9.1%. The shovel ready jobs that were suppose to have been created are laughed at by this administration as "not being quite as shovel ready as they thought they would be". We now have written into law a government mandated national insurance program that is taxed over a 10 year period with 6 years of "benefits" that when instigated was suppose to cut the deficit and the premiums of the insured, but now inflated the deficit even more and those same premiums are going up because of the uncertainty of the future.
3.) Last Decemember in a vaction session of Congress, President Obama extended the Bush tax cuts. These are the same tax cuts that were said to have added to the deficit and helped the rich croneys of GWB.
Ok, I will grant the "Left" that some of the Bush policies especially towards the end of his presidency may have contributed to the lagging economy. But 2 things and they are 2 big giant buts. But the Housing Bubble that burst and splattered all over the financial markets was started by the democratically controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The policies written by Chris Dodd and Barney Frank to cure the social injustices of the poor to guarantee them the purchases of houses that everyone knew they could not afford lead to the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehmann Bros. Those institution collapses started a dominoe effect of the continual crash of the housing market. The housing bubble burst due to wreckless mismangement of government run agencies supprted by the policies put in place by Dodd and Frank. The other But that is giant and cannot be ignored is the but if Bush's policies were so horrible and lead us into the worst economy since the Great Depression, why were they not only continued, but even doubled down after BHO took office? We are spending even more money on even more wars. We are adding to the deficit by spending money on stimulous packages that don't stimulate, but line the pockets of bureaucrats and union leader thugs. The evil tax cuts that drove the economy down in the eyes of the left were extended by the current administration because they knew that letting them expire would lead to a greater drag on the economy.
To me there is plenty of blame to go around every where. We need some leadership in this country. We need some one to lead us out of this mess by tightenting the government's belt. We need a leader who will adhere to the confines of the Constitution by not mandating that the We the people not buy anything. Who is that leader? Who is the man or woman who will step up to the plate, take the bull by the horns, do the right thing and lead us out of this mess? We need to be steered by some one who will let us have more of our own money. Someone who will stimulate the economy not the government. Someone who will stand by their convictions. I feel as a nation we should do as the Bible says. It says in His word, "if we bow down to Him, humbly seek His face, turn away from our wicked ways, then He will hear from heaven and heal our land. Are you with me?
