A few points about Mr. Petty”s letter (Record-Bee, April 1) blaming Democrats for the current recession:
Mr. Petty may be right that the vacuum left by the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act has helped lead to the sub-prime mortgage crisis, but he”s got the rest of his history lesson wildly wrong.
It”s true that Democrat Bill Clinton signed The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed Glass-Steagall, but Senator Phil Gramm was a Republican, as were both of his co-sponsors. And Republicans held solid majorities in both houses of Congress at the time, and supported the bill overwhelmingly.
Further, the philosophy behind the legislation was the traditional Republican ideology that deregulation of business promotes nothing but competition and economic growth.
So the actual facts of the situation might disappoint Mr. Petty; the sound regulatory policy enacted by Democrats in 1935, was repealed mostly by pro-business Republicans in 1999.
As for Katrina, I think there”s plenty of blame to go around on that debacle ? enough for local and state politicians, the Bush administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, and even some citizens.
On the court issue, first of all it”s not about the Supreme Court, as Mr. Petty suggests. That court currently has no vacancies. Yes, Democrats have filibustered a dozen or so of Bush”s nominees to lower federal courts, but over 200 have been confirmed. During Clinton”s presidency, Republicans blocked hearings on many of his nominees as well. This has been going on for awhile, it”s about the abortion issue and petty partisanship on both sides, but the fact is the courts are still getting their work done.
As an independent voter, I”ve got my own beefs with the Democrats, but here”s an interesting observation: Republicans have controlled the House of Representatives for 12 of the last 13 years (1995-2007); Republicans have controlled the Senate for 10 of those 13 years; and Republicans have controlled the Presidency for 8 of those 13 years. Yet, now that the country faces a catalog of nasty problems, including this recession, Mr. Petty basically tells us it”s all the Democrats” fault.
All things considered, I suggest Mr. Petty accept his own advice and do a little more research before pointing his finger so accusingly.
Roy Dufrain Jr.
Kelseyville
