I love how all the conservatives like to blame every problem on the democrats. Here is what I have the hardest time with. The Conseratives had a budget SURPLUS in 2001. They had control of every branch of government until 2006 yet somehow the SURPLUS turned into a massive deficit that is now at a trillion dollars a year. I'm sure that is entirely the democrats fault somehow, but I'm curious. I'm not dumb enough to blam all our problems on the republicans, but I certainly see them more at fault than the Dem's given they have had the power the whole time this mess was brewing and did nothing to stop it. Now Obama takes over and you refuse to give him any chance to try something new. Its really funny to watch your party go the way of the dinosaur.DG, I suggest you be a bit more careful with your overgeneralizations.
First, that whole Clinton surplus thing is a bit...well...misunderstood. It was caused largely by factors that no one had any control over - the dot com boom and the end of the cold war; certainly not by anything Clinton did. Second, it was never a real surplus, anyway - it was just a projection based on wildly unrealistic estimates. (reference here)
Furthermore, the deficit had been cut to $165 billion in 2007, partly through Bush's tax cuts. In fact, right up until the housing crisis we were on a pace toward a balanced budget. And yes, the housing meltdown was, in fact, caused primarily by Democrats -- take your pick of links here, here, here, here, here, here, or here to justify that one -- who started the irresponsible lending policies that eventually tanked Fannie and Freddie, perpetuated those policies for decades, and repeatedly prevented Republicans from pushing through reforms in the past five years, when the meltdown was actively being predicted. Throughout it all, Democrats vehemently protested that there was nothing wrong at Fannie or Freddie...right up until the collapse.
So, I don't accept your premise of the GOP turning a huge surplus into a huge deficit.
However, I level the charge of hypocrisy at Democrats often enough that I feel compelled to show my own lack of it on this matter, and the chance to set the record straight is never wasted.
Your overall point is an extremely valid one - the Republicans did have control of the White House and Congress for six years, and they spent like Democrats. In short, they blew it. History shows us the Dems typically spend a lot, but history also shows us that Reps do not. The current bunch (starting from President Bush, who didn't veto a single spending bill until his second term, on down throughout Congress) failed to keep things in check, and paid the electoral price for their foolishness. It is for precisely that reason that I believe the GOP has lost the past two elections badly - they failed miserably on at least one of the biggest issues of their core constituencies, and the base threw them to the wolves. Justifiably, in my opinion; I almost registered as an Independent myself. If the GOP doesn't get back to its conservative roots, I will in the near future.
But, if you'd bothered to take a spin around this blog, DG, you would have seen that I have often verbally hammered the loser Republicans (like Kit Bond, in my home state of Missouri) who have been guilty of such gross negligence in fiscal responsibility. I have not tried to sugar coat what they've done over the past few years, nor have I pretended that the GOP is guiltless. So, before you accuse me of slanting things purely by party, you might want to do your homework.
If you're referring to my constant donkey bashing on the more recent events, then you would actually be correct - this is a completely Democrat disaster. There is no stretch of the imagination that would indicate bipartisan support for Obama's stimulus or other spending plans; even if you count the three GOP Senators who gave him the keys to the kingdom, there were seven Dems in the House who opposed it. By my calculator, that still adds up more in my favor than yours. So, the current madness is all Democrat, my friend. Admit it, live it, breathe it, and own it. It is theirs, as is the sum total of the political and economic fallout, and I will proclaim that fact loudly and often in the coming months to remind everyone reading this blog who is to blame because I believe that these Democrat measures are going to cause extreme hardship for millions of Americans. They already are, in fact, as you can plainly see with a quick glance at the stock market and all manner of investments. The blame game isn't just a petty finger-pointing thing, either - it is essential to understand who enacted these economically disastrous measures so the American voters know who to send home in the next election. That's how our system works, so I'm all in.
One last point. You mentioned that we are refusing to let Obama try anything new. Now that's funny! Obama is proposing an almost identical method and plan as what FDR did back in the 1930s! I've spent considerable time delving into those details, so I won't rehash them again here. Suffice it to say that those ideas didn't work 75 years ago, and they won't work today. In fact, it is precisely because these policy ideas are proven failures that conservatives are vehemently opposed to them - we don't have to speculate on whether or not they would fail, we know they will. If Obama could come up with anything new, I'd be happy to entertain it, but he hasn't done that.
Once again, I suggest you do a little more homework before you accuse someone else of blind opposition simply for the sake of opposition, but thanks for the opportunity to address your comment!
There's my two cents.
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