Country first?
Two days after the Sept. 11 attacks on America, President George W. Bush said, “The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him.” Six months later at a White House press conference, the President answered many questions about Iraq. One intrepid reporter asked why he rarely mentioned bin Laden anymore? The President replied, “You know, I just don”t spend that much time on him really, to be honest with you. I truly am not that concerned about him.”
Many conservative Obama-hating Americans have a hard time recognizing any of President Obama”s accomplishments, but you”d think they could at least acknowledge that he got bin Laden. I certainly haven”t heard any praise on FOX News (and yes I do watch it from time-to-time). Obama succeeded where Bush gave up. Why can”t conservatives admit that?
During the eight years Bush was President, we went from a budget surplus to a record deficit. This happened because of his tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, two wars fought on credit and deregulation of Wall Street and the banks.
The old, tired line that tax cuts for the wealthy stimulate the economy has been shown time and time again to have just the opposite effect. The theory is that giving money to the “job creators” enables them to start new businesses and hire people. President Reagan tried this approach in the 1980s. Back then it was called “trickle-down economics” or “Reaganomics.” It had the same result as the Bush tax cut: huge deficits and loss of jobs. History has taught us that tax cuts for the wealthy do not stimulate the economy. Even the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has confirmed this. Yet this policy is still being proposed by Republicans! It reminds me of the old saying, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
It took Bush eight years to create our current recession. The country was literally on the brink of financial collapse when he left office. Of course before he left he took care of Wall Street and the banks with the TARP bailout. He did nothing for the middle class and small business. Deregulation of Wall Street and the banks allowed risky financial ventures such as credit default swaps and “derivatives,” which generated huge losses for investors. Once again the middle-class taxpayer paid the price when the “decider” decided wrong.
Obama”s economic stimulus bill kept the country from falling further into a full-blown depression. The Republicans called for a “spending freeze,” which is what Japan did in response to their recession. As we know Japan”s recession lasted well over 10 years. Spending freezes during a recession only exacerbates the problem.
President Obama has been in office two-and-a-half years and during that time the country have made slow but steady progress in spite of a record number of Senate filibusters by Republicans ? all designed to block any legislation to help our economy recover. Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “Our number one priority is to ensure that Obama is a one-term President.” Excuse me, but what ever happened to “Country first?” I recall that “Country first” was not only the slogan at the last Republican convention but John McCain campaigned on it as well.
I don”t want my country back ? I want my country forward!
Steven MacDonald
Kelseyville
