Consider this bit of info from HotAir.com . There is a graph and a timeline that pretty clearly shows that Congress owns more blame for our present situation than the Executive branch ever did, and the party that controlled Congress wasn't the GOP.
Look, I'll be completely honest here. I have a very strong suspicion that 9/11 was caused by a family feud, where the black sheep of one family (Osama bin Laden) hated the influence that the Bush family had over his Saudi royalty family. No matter the circumstances, I will never ever condone any American using this country to fight a family feud. That's what mafia, kings and dictators do, not American elected officials. No matter what's been done to your family, you take it outside of the government and fight your battle on your own.
So, you can see how tempting it might be to agree that it's always Bush's fault...except that the facts don't support it. And frankly, since I know that our economic crisis was caused in very large part by the housing financial corruption that resulted from allowing (some argue requiring) unqualified buyers to participate in home ownsership, and as early as 1998 when we bought our current home and I saw firsthand how risky the process had already become -- under the Clinton admin and a Dem Congressional majority I might add, then Obama's spin to blame Bush for said crisis becomes almost laughable.
The above-linked article reminds us that GWB asked Congress 17 times for more regulation over Freddie and Fannie or to end it, as early as 2001. That's pretty damning and not for GWB. Congress clearly dropped the ball. A Democratic Congress for much of that time, I might add, including the Clinton years when this housing scam began as a new way to grow the market and help those who...well, who couldn't afford to own homes own homes. Wow, in retrospect, WHAT PRESRIPTION DRUGS WERE THEY ABUSING????
To illustrate just how ridiculous this problem had already gotten by 1998, we owned one home (FMV: $75,000 / Mtg balance: $11,000) and were buying another with the intent of selling the first house as soon as we made cosmetic repairs within the next year. We go to the mortgage broker, who checks out our credit and then tells us we can buy the $80,000 house we want with ZERO money down and we can add another 25% to the loan balance if we want, for those "extras" or whatever we needed the cash for. All this without requiring a second mortgage on House #1 or anything, really.
Just so you know, we declined the loan of 125% of House #2's FMV and instead put 5% down on the closing price with a loan for the balance. In our case, paying two mortgages turned out to be pretty do-able until we sold House #1, so the broker was right about our ability to pay. But, my problem with it even then was, if they are willing to take us out on such a limb, what are they doing with folks less credit worthy or risk-seeking or both? I remember thinking that, hand over heart. And some part of me wanted to make a citizen's arrest, as in you people cannot do that! You know, I knew back then it wasn't right. I'm proud that we did not take the bait and it was tempting, lemme tellya.
So, the next time you hear it is all Bush's fault, ask exactly how is it that way, and demand specifics. Remember the chart and the timeline, and that you are too smart to be blinded by the hyperbole of spinmeisters and others who have no respect for the quality of the average American's thinking mind. We're not all Zombies out here!
On a related note, I'm currently reading Jason Mattera's book Obama Zombies: How the Liberal Machine Brainwashed My Generation. Mattera goes into detail to illustrate and document exactly how the Obama Spin Machine operated. Of course, reading it now just crystalizes how stupid his believers were (and some still are). You can look back on this blog to the Spring of 2008 to see that I didn't take the bait or drink the Koolaid, so I have to confess that it's been satisfying to read this book and see further confirmation that I was right all along.
Mattera's book is what Game Change should have been, or at the very least it proves that Game Change was just so much propoganda for Obama. After reading Game Change, I remember deciding that it was proof that even the most awesome campaigner in history does not a governor make (governor, as in one who governs). And neither does the most awesome orator. God, I do hope we have all learned that lesson by now.
