Here's an opinion piece by Chuck Green who writes "Greener Pastures" for the Denver Post Aurora Sentinel...one of the more liberal papers in the country. Additionally, Mr. Green is a life long Democrat...so this is rather a stunning piece...
I've tried to find a link to the Post's site archives...but it doesn't seem to exist...big sigh.
UPDATE: The article comes from the Aurora Sentinel of Aurora, Colorado. Thanks for the link. Instalanche! Thanks Glenn!
22 comments:
Link to archived article:
http://www.aurorasentinel.com/articles/2010/02/07/opinion/columnists/doc4b6af63781c92027520167.txt
When the Dems lose congress in November, will that be George Bush's fault too?
Obama is NOT "Americas first black President"
Obama is not 'black'.
He is Mulatto.
You can look it up.
Thanks for the link. Anon...
I'm sure that Mr. Obama will continue to blame Mr. Bush for all that ails the country...all the way to 2012, when he loses his bid for reelection (at least I fervently hope so).
One promise of President Obama that George Bush was unable to break was the acquisition of a pet for the first family.
The masterstroke is the selection of the name for the new First Dog - BO. Or, is it BHO? Only the fiendishly evil Karl Rove would do that.
Now, anytime the press condemns the Republicans for criticizing the President, the response will be that the critics were talking about Bo, not BO.
A Haiku.....
Obama has failed
The worst President ever
Jimmy Carter smiles!
Wow! That's a win-filled diatribe, especially coming from a Democrat.
I predict this fall's elections will be... um... "interesting."
But to answer Green's question- not a chance.
-drjohn
George Bush! Is this war-monger still alive, the worst America leader in USA history.
Maybe I don't read this blog enough, or I don't understand, but I'm hoping that you're joking by calling Chuck Green a life long Democrat.
The man is, and is repeatedly proving, unabashedly conservative.
This is no surprise he came out against Obama. He does it every week.
NOT EVERYTHING IS BUSH'S FAULT.
The fact that Bush used up ALL the surplus that Pres. Clinton left him and left the next President a deficit of $7 Trillion dollars....no that has nothing to do with anything regarding January 21, 2009 and what the next President was stuck with.
The fact that Bush lied us in to two wars, one of them invading a country that did not invade us....no that has nothing to do with anything.
The fact that Bush took his eyes completely off the warnings that Pres. Clinton's team left him that "Al Qaeda was determined to attack in the U.S."....no that has nothing to do with anything.
The fact that Bush, and his Congress & Senate just let Wall Street become too big to fail....no that has nothing to do with anything.
The fact that Bush did NOTHING to try to stop the housing market downturn....no that has nothing to do with anything.
The fact that Bush, and Presidents before him did NOTHING to help Americans get health care and hospitals were closing daily because they couldn't stay in business....no that has nothing to do with anything.
The fact that mines were blowing up and Bush and his predessors did nothing to improve the mines....no that has nothing to do with anything.
The fact that today Americans are still stuck on oil, for which we send countries that hate us a Billion dollars a day for, and no President has done anything about....no that has nothing to do with anything.
The fact that American jobs have been outsourced, companies closed, automobile plants bankrupt, people have been without jobs for years, people can't afford to buy things any more, and when they do, they are all "Made In China"....no that has nothing to do with anything.
The fact that after oil leak after oil leak, and the hundreds of leaks that are ongoing every day that people don't even realize are slowly killing everything that lives in or near our oceans....no that has nothing to do with anything.
The fact that half-term governors, bloated pill popping talking heads on the radio, a whole television 'news' network with the same bimbos and spinners saying exactly the same thing on every program and the fact that some Americans are too stupid to look up facts for themselves and thus end up saying things like "We want our country back"....from WHAT? Plus the fact some Americans are so stupid that they are promoting ending programs that actually are designed to help them....no that has nothing to do with anything.
The fact that ALMOST EVERY SINGLE REPUBLICAN WITH ANY INFLUENCE has flipped flopped so many times on issues, sometimes within days (it is all on video tape or cell phones) they don't even know what they stand for....no that has nothing to do with anything.
The fact that EVERY SINGLE REPUBLICAN HAS VOTED LOCK STEP for the past 10 years and now AGAINST ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS TRIED TO DO TO GET THIS COUNTRY BACK ON TRACT....no that has nothing to do with anything.
THE FACT THAT REPUBLICANS HAVE PROUDLY STATED OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN THAT THEY WANT OBAMA (AND THUS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)TO FAIL....no that has nothing to do with anything.
I could go on and on and on, but you have to know that with what President Obama was left with on January 21, 2008, NO Republican could have fixed things by now, in fact I would bet that this country would be in worse shape than it is in with pappy McCain & Sister Sarah trying to run this country.
President Obama never said he was a miracle worker.....did he? Oh, yeah.....when, where, what time of day?
In reading most of the comments with this article, it is easy to see who is in the majority today: ignorant Americans.
Do you remember when America used to be the BIGGEST EXPORTER OF QUALITY GOODS IN THE WORLD? No, I didn't think so. Today we are at the BOTTOM of the list of industrial countries in exporting goods and at the TOP of the list in IMPORTING GOODS.
Thank you for listening....Good Day!
Well, Arthur, thanks for coming by and commenting. I don't agree with your view point, but that's what makes America so great. I don't have to...
Thank you, Rich. At least you are civil about it.
Of course we don't all agree on everything, that's why we have 2 parties, or really there are at least 5 parties that should be given a chance at the table.
But I'd like to know what you, or any conservative really thinks would bring our country out of the terrible financial state that it is currently in, without trying to help people.
Sure, some would game the system and do....look at the CEO's and the salaries they have built for themselves since the Reagan era on the backs of the rest of us, but without a thriving middle class, to do the work and buy the products, the CEO's and V.P.'s wouldn't have their jobs. Just look at how many companies have closed during the last 30 years, and, again America's place in the world going from the biggest exporter to becoming the biggest importer......not a very good sign for what we used to proudly state on everything we made: "Made In America", on quality products that lasted.
We can do it again, and we need a leader who will demand it of Congress, EVERYONE IN CONGRESS. Even as a liberal, I have to say that I'm beginning to seriously wonder if Obama is going to be that person. If not, WHO could it be?
Personally, I'm still sticking with Hillary Clinton. You many not like everything about her, but she has the smarts and the strength to be the one to get us out of this!
Arthur,
First, Bush didn't use up a surplus. That existed only as an accounting mirage. The way the government "counts" spending-tax receipts depends hugely upon WHO is doing the counting, and how. Much spending is excluded are are many sources of receipts. If a business was run the way our government is, it would have been bankrupt decades ago.
Bush didn't "lie" us into 2 wars. If you recall, every country in the west's intelligence services were reporting much the same thing about Iraq: Hussein was actively pursuing a nuclear agenda and possessed chemical weapons. Do a google search and you'll see ALL of the Democratic leadership said much the same thing. Also, it it now believed, in the 6 months prior to the Iraq invasion, that Hussein moved his chemical weapons to Syria (who was then his closest ally--Syria is still ruled by the Baath Party, the same the USED to rule Iraq). However, have you forgotten that Al Queda, from it's safe havens in Afghanistan attacked us first? Not just in 2001, but several times over the previous decade.
Historically, CEO salaries have been about 50 times the national average, at least since the 1930's. This is a historical fact, they just didn't baloon since the Reagan era. I've always decried management compensation, especially bonuses for CEO's whose companies LOST money. You don't get an "attaboy" when you don't post a profit! Moreover, companies began to leave this country during the 1970's when federal regulation and rapidly rising wages created an atmosphere wherein producing both raw materials (i.e. steel) and finished products (cars, etc.) began to be uncompetetive in the world market place. The Reagan administration attempted to reduce the amount of regulations that burdened corporations, and reduced taxes to a level competative with the rest of the world. Right now, with the heavy burden of business taxation (we have some of the highest rates in the world) and strangling amount of regulation, it's no longer profitable (and that's not a dirty word) to produce many basic goods here, so those jobs have fled to parts of the world where regulation or wage levels are much lower than here.
If you'd really like to see a simple economic model work, you should try playing the game Sim City. While admittedly, it's not an ideal model, it will give you an excellent idea on what taxation-regulation can do to an economy. Start a city and get it to "fill" the map, then see what happens when you raise taxation levels beyond the "tipping point."
They Keynesian economic model that is being used by the current administration doesn't work. In 1934 & '35, FDR attempted to do much the same as Mr. Obama is doing now, and strangled the nascent recovery and extended the Great Depression by nearly 7 years. The 2nd great myth of 20th Century America is the FDR got us out of the Depression, nothing of sort occured, it was WW2 that did so.
CONTINUED IN NEXT COMMENT
Actually, it got so long I posted it seperately under the title "its all bush's fault pt2".
Thanks
This man, who voted for John McCain and has only voted non-Republican once in my life (even at state and local levels), is pretty convinced most of our current problems are indeed "Bush's Fault".
Let's stop playing games and put the blame where it belongs. King George screwed up. Period. I'm happy I didn't inherit the mess President Obama inherited.
A lot of what Arthur said isn't really subjective, so I'd be interested in hearing which parts the blog author "doesn't agree" with...
Rich,
Once again, you use nice words, but they, respectfully, are the words the Republicans would have you believe.
If Clinton didn't leave a lot of money for the Bush/Cheney administration, where did they get all that money they spent like drunken sailors on everything they wanted? They are known oil men, and everything they did was to help the oil industry. Everything.
And, as far as the 'knowledge' of what Sadaam had or didn't have, aren't we supposed to have the best intelligence in the world? Why didn't we 'know' 'for sure' what Sadaam had and didn't have before we invaded that country?
I thought we were supposed to be over there to find Osama bin Laden, well Bush let his family fly right out of the U.S. the day after 9/11, and he completely took his eye off of finding him, in order to invade Iraq and try, one more time, to get our hands on their oil.
Well, it didn't work. But he, and Fox News were able to scare most Americans with the same rhetoric over and over and over in to narrowly electing him in 2004, after the Supreme Court completely overstepped their bounds by stopping the vote in Florida and appointing him president in 2000.
All during his 8 years in the office he took more vacation time than any other president, and took his eye off of Wall Street, and everything that was happening right here at home, thus creating the worst economic situation since the great depression.
There is absolutely no way John McCain and Sarah Palin could have ever pulled us out of this deep recession by now, in fact with his complete lack of knowledge of economics and her complete lack of knowledge about everything, we would be in a lot worse mess today, and you know it.
Barack Obama may have problems accepting the fact that every Republican is pledged to defeat him at every turn, and thus keep the United States of America in terrible shape, but if Americans vote Republicans back in to the majority this fall or in 2012, they will get exactly what they deserve. And they will pull all the rest of us middle class and the not so fortunate, that have lost their jobs, their homes and in some cases everything, farther down.
They just keep watching "Dancing With the Stars", idolizing that hockey mom the half-term governor of Alaska who can see Russia from her front door and think giving tax breaks to the wealthy will ever help them, and of course continuing to bring more and more and more children in to this already far too over crowded world, and they don't even realize the benefits they have received under President Obama.
But, oh boy, get the Republicans back in office, they'll fix everything the messed up.
Oh, yeah! You betcha'
This country doesn't even know what has happened to it after the 50's & 60's & in to the 70's with real growth and real jobs and real proud to go to work and produce something. Today the boss has you doing two jobs and they want more out of you, and threaten to move your job to India, and they are doing it.
What does America produce today that is really worth anything? Why are we at the bottom of the list in exporting goods?
Why are we at the top of the list in importing goods?
Why aren't we doing something to get off oil and on to clean renewable energy sources?
Why? Because the oil & gas corporations and the health plan corporations contribute too much to 98% of the people in Washington D.C. There are 2-3 times as many lobbyists in Washington as there are law makers.
Come on, America, WAKE UP.
We are on a fast track to becoming the next Bangladesh.
This started as an answer to a comment in "It's All Bush's Fault"...
First, Bush didn't use up a surplus. That existed only as an accounting mirage. The way the government "counts" spending/tax receipts depends hugely upon WHO is doing the counting, and how. Much spending is excluded are are many sources of receipts. If a business was run the way our government is, it would have been bankrupt decades ago.
Bush didn't "lie" us into 2 wars. If you recall, every country in the west's intelligence services were reporting much the same thing about Iraq: Hussein was actively pursuing a nuclear agenda and possessed chemical weapons. Do a google search and you'll see ALL of the Democratic leadership said much the same thing. Also, it it now believed, in the 6 months prior to the Iraq invasion, that Hussein moved his chemical weapons to Syria (who was then his closest ally--Syria is still ruled by the Baath Party, the same the USED to rule Iraq). However, have you forgotten that Al Queda, from it's safe havens in Afghanistan attacked us first? Not just in 2001, but several times over the previous decade.
Historically, CEO salaries have been about 50 times the national average, at least since the 1930's. This is a historical fact, they just didn't baloon since the Reagan era. I've always decried management compensation, especially bonuses for CEO's whose companies LOST money. You don't get an "attaboy" when you don't post a profit! Moreover, companies began to leave this country during the 1970's when federal regulation and rapidly rising wages created an atmosphere wherein producing both raw materials (i.e. steel) and finished products (cars, etc.) began to be uncompetetive in the world market place. The Reagan administration attempted to reduce the amount of regulations that burdened corporations, and reduced taxes to a level competative with the rest of the world. Right now, with the heavy burden of business taxation (we have some of the highest rates in the world) and strangling amount of regulation, it's no longer profitable (and that's not a dirty word) to produce many basic goods here, so those jobs have fled to parts of the world where regulation or wage levels are much lower than here
If you'd really like to see a simple economic model work, you should try playing the game Sim City. While admittedly, it's not an ideal model, it will give you an excellent idea on what taxation/regulation can do to an economy. Start a city and get it to "fill" the map, then see what happens when you raise taxation levels beyond the "tipping point."
They Keynesian economic model that is being used by the current administration doesn't work. In 1934/35, FDR attempted to do much the same as Mr. Obama is doing now, and strangled the nascent recovery and extended the Great Depression by nearly 7 years. The 2nd great myth of 20th Century America is the FDR got us out of the Depression, nothing of sort occured, it was WW2 that did so a study by economists from UCLA (a bastion of conservatism) shows that this is simply not the case. More over, a Harvard study has shown the Keynesian/Government spending has had the opposite effect of reducing jobs...While much of the rest of world was emerging, albeit slowly, from the Depression in the late '30's, the US continued to languish for many years longer than necessary.
Now, what would I do if I had the ability to "fix things"? First I would reduce taxes across the board. I would eliminate the death tax and capital gains tax (contrary to popular wisdom, small investors pay much more of this tax do than do large investors). additionally, I would eliminate several Secretarial departments whose sole reason for existence is to create employment (Education, HHS/HUD, Commerce, Homeland Security [ummm Doesn't the DoD have responsibility for defending/securing the homeland?], etc.-many departments now have overlapping duties) and greatly reduce the scope of government...additionally, I would veto any bill that Congress passed that increased spending w/o comensurate cuts in other areas (i.e. require Congress to spend responsibly-balance the budget). After all, if I will go to jail for spending money I don't have, WTF can Congress get away with it?
Additionally, I would veto any bill that was so large as to be incomprehensible. There is no excuse to "we won't know what's in the bill until after it's passed." Because
"It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood ."--James Madison
Because in the past, landmark legislation that changed the way our country opperates, hasn't had to be more than 2,000 pages long:
Homestead Act (1862) - 9 pages.
National Labor Relations Act (1935) [aka "Wagner Act"] - 25 pages.
Social Security Act (1935) - 82 pages.
Civil Rights Act (1964) - 74 pages.
These bills were all landmark legislation that was passed in a bipartisan fashion, something that this President and this Congress don't seem to be able to remember.
I would also require that Congress repealed the provisions of ObamaCare (the Massachusetts Model, whis is the basis for ObamaCare is currently running $40 Bil in the red...) because it WONT reduce any costs it will only run them up. In my state of Maryland, only 6 companies (of the 1300+ available) are permitted to provide health insurance. If we eliminated state barriers to companies and allow a genuine free market, prices for coverage would be greatly reduced. Another thing would be to limit/cap lawsuits, with the loser to pay winner's court/lawyer costs, this would seriously reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits...
At this point, I think that under the Obama Administration, a redux of the disasterous Carter administration is a best case senario. If you look at the amount of fraud in the 2008 election (in WI, it looks like illegal [convicted felons, fake ballots] voting put the Dem Sen candidate over the top-not my conclusion but that of the very liberal Star Tribune) ballots and fraud in various caucuses (as opposed to secret ballot primaries) threw the nomination to Obama. But then, I wasn't happy with Mr. McCain either...
Be that as it may, there are several possible solutions to what is ailing America right now. I firmly believe that the solution chosen my Congress and this Administration were among the worst. I know a number of academic economists who spend a great deal of time looking at the economy, and they tell me that they don't believe we'll see a real recovery for 2-3 years, at least, if not longer...
While all this is said, I don't believe that government has no place regulating business, but I believe that their scope in doing so must be greatly reduced. Government's proper role is to keep business "reasonably" honest, provide for the common defense, protect us from those who seek to lie-cheat or steal, and to not interfere in our everyday lives...that's the mandate that our forefather's gave it, not the huge role that it has assumed over the course of the last century. It's well past time to roll back the behemouth that's built up and to vastly reduce the roll that it has undertaken. We, as a nation can do this, but we have to begin now, before the real pain begins...
But I've published my ideas in a much longer form here and here, unfortunately, since I'm not either a "mover" or a "shaker" none of my ideas will ever be implemented. So Arthur, I hope that I've answered your comments.
But, I think the most important thing to keep in mind here is that I firmly believe that 90% of the Republican Congressmen and Senators in Washington are not part of the solution, any more than 100% of the Democratic Congressmen and Senators are.
Most of the GOP Congressmen/Senators have long since forgotten what it actually means to be "conservative" or libertarian at all. They have swallowed the false lesson of the past 20 years (following our spending the Soviet Union into bankruptcy, which was, perhaps acceptable in a "cold war" just as using debt to fund a "hot war" is acceptable--WW1 & WW2 were funded this way, as was the Civil War...) and continued to spend, spend and spend some more...without comensurate reductions elsewhere.
I strongly believe that we need a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution, just as most states have, so that our elected representatives won't spend money that we just don't have.
On the other hand, the current Congress, under the leadership of Nancy Pelosi, who has been Chairman of the House of Representatives since January of 2007, and the Senate under the leadership of Harry Reid, have added 5 trillion dollars to the national debt, with 3 trillion just in the past 18 months. They have made the Republican Congress that had a deficit of under 400 billion per year look like genuine amatuers.
We as a nation cannot sustain this kind of spending...within a decade we will be in the same boat as Greece, Spain, and Ireland are now...on the brink of bankruptcy, yet there will be no-one to bail us out...as the Germans and the French have done for those irresponsible members of the EU.
So, I am greatly concerned that when the GOP takes over the reigns of Congress this coming January, that they will continue to act just as stupidly as the current majority...reducing taxes without reducing spending is just as stupid as vastly increasing spending...
Rich
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