First and foremost, the Great Bush recession was the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression. Obama believed he could turn the country around in two years , but his confidence was naive.
The Great Depression started in 1929 and ended in the early 1940's . Some economists believe the Great Depression didn't end until after World War 2.
Regardless, the Great Recession may take 10 years or longer to resolve. GW Bush dug a very deep hole for the country.
As Pat Buchanan noted Bush was a "rare blend of moral arrogance, ideology, and ignorance of history" who produced what Gen. William Odom called “the worst strategic disaster in U.S. history.”
Buchanan predicted:
If not addressed and resolved, the deficit-debt crisis will eat up the resources we allocate to defense and destroy the dollar. A default would do to the U.S. system of alliances and archipelago of bases around the world what the fall of the pound did for the worldwide British Empire.
It is unlikely that Republicans with their ideological blinders will be able to improve the economy if they take the presidency in 2012. Deregulation and the lopsided tax cuts for the rich will make the recession worse.
Roosevelt got the county out of the great Depression by taxing the rich. When the dust cleared in the 1950s only one in thirty Americans was wealthy, but the middle class was robust and a huge building boom followed the war. The income tax rate on the most affluent Americans was 90 per cent.
Oddly it was Democratic blue blood John Kennedy who reduced the income tax on the rich. Of course, the Kennedy's were one of the most affluent families in the US at that time.
Although the GOP makes a big stink about income tax because it is a progressive tax, most of the income of America's most fortunate are accrued through capital gains which is in most cases is a low 15 per cent flat tax.
Many Republicans, notably Jon Huntsman, who should know better, think eliminating the tax on capital gains and dividends would somehow benefit the county. Actually, this tax cut would create even a greater deficit and primarily benefit Americans who make more than $200,000 per year.
The Obama economic stimulus didn't work well because the government spent money on programs like infrastructure, food stamps and unemployment, cut taxes on the middle calls, but also extended the horrible Bush tax cuts.
Had these Bush tax cuts been sent to file 13 after the election when Obama was supported by the friendly 111th congress, government revenues would have improved to allow the expansion of the original stimulus program and also permit a new jobs program.
Why didn't the Democrats trash the Bush tax cuts when they could have? Perhaps they though they could negotiate with the GOP if they left the Bush tax cuts off of the table. If so, the Democrats made a strategic blunder.
Obama is starting to look like Herbert Hoover. Hoover had good ideas but he didn't implement them correctly or on a large enough scale. . Many of the civil programs were started during the Hoover administration. Roosevelt accelerated these programs as part of the New Deal. He built national parks and erosion control programs like the Hoover dam which started construction while Hoover was in office. Many high school football stadiums were built during the New Deal.
Republicans can be expected to curry favor with the affluent and their corporate masters by continuing tax cuts for the rich and also by trying to deregulate the country out of the recession. A Repblican president will ignore environmental and labor law.
Republican disinformation will continue. For example, Michele Bachmann is even suggesting the the modest Obama health care reforms in the Affordable Health Care Act are hurting business,
FactCheck noted that the 650,000 (job loss) figure was not in the CBO report, and said that the Republican statement "badly misrepresents what the Congressional Budget Office has said about the law. In fact, CBO is among those saying the (job loss) effect 'will probably be small."The Republicans also cited a study by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, but PolitiFact.com said that the 2009 NFIB study had concerned an earlier version of the bill that differed significantly from what was enacted.PolitiFact rated the Republican statement as False.
Rightardia suspects if the GOP takes the Senate and the presidency in 2012 that the economy would continue to falter because the GOP has never demonstrated much acumen during a national crises. Supply side economics which really doesn't work when the economy is good, will not work at all during an economic downturn.
Republicans are too intellectually rigid to consider economic programs and options that do not fit well with GOP social and economic precepts.
Perhaps the American electorate need to find this out the hard way!
If Americans think things are bad now, just wait and see what will happen to this country if Republicans take the Senate and the presidency in 2012. if you think GW Bush was bad, imagine a GOP president like county clubber Mitt Romney or Tea Bagger Rick Perry.
Romney most notable 'accomplishment" as governor of Massachusetts was his record number of vetoes. most of which were overturned.
Would Perry push the US into another middle east war based upon his evangelical convictions. You betcha!
Perry seems to have the same rare blend of moral arrogance, ideology, and ignorance of history that Bush has. Perhaps, this is something unique to Texas governors.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Protection_and_Affordable_Care_Act
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