Quote:
Originally Posted by djplong
BO's "wrecking crew"?
Tell me. If the administration had let GM fail and go into Chapter 7, putting hundreds of thousands of employees out of work with a ripple effect that nobody could accurately forecast, what would you have said then?
The bank bailouts? Remember - BUSH was in charge when that was signed in. Also remember that THEY were the ones arguing for deregulation that paved the way for these derivatives.
Now, what I *can* agree with you on are the facts that are plain as day. Tax revenues being down and expenditures being way up. But deficit spending in a recessionary cycle is nothing new. It's just that our economy has never been this big before so the numbers are larger than ever.
But if you're thinking about that, let me ask you - and I mean this sincerely - where were you when the surplus that Bush inherited turned into the largest deficit in history (at the time)? Were you singing the same tune? And, let's be honest, if we never went into Iraq, there's a LOT of money that would still be in this country.
Obama inherited a godawful mess. Personally I don't think he can pull us all the way out. But McCain's campaign promises of "more of the same" would have been, I honestly believe, much worse.
If we HAVE to have all this government spending to buy votes, I'd rather see it spent on fixing our highways, upgrading our electrical grid, grants for new energy research, high-speed rail - INFRASTRUCTURE - since that's one of the things that made us so prosperous in the past.
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This gives me an opportunity to say a few things....
First the TARP money (or the first part) was given during the Bush administration and that is correct, with Obama's blessing if you recall, AND it is credited as THE single saviour of our economics at the time and I would doubt you could find an economist that would disagree with that. Unlilke the so called "stimulus bill" which was about 70% pork.
Second, you mention the Bush spending and you are correct. This is an opportunity to point out to all those folks who recently discovered Fox news that that cable channel called him on his spending on a more regular basis than MSNBC or CNN. MSNBC focused more on the personal attacks.
Thus in answer to your question, most folks were aware and yelling about the Bush spending on both sides (of course not in congress because as we see now you just do not ever criticize the President in your party).
PS: You make the assumption that allowing GM to go bankrupt would have cost "hundreds of thousands of employees out of work" which I seriously doubt !