The current administration loves to blame Bush for the deficit. I decided to take a little walk down down memory lane... won't you come with me?
On 27 Jan 2010, during his State of the Union campaign speech, President Obama stated the following...
"By the time I took office, we had a one year deficit of over $1 trillion and projected deficits of $8 trillion over the next decade. Most of this was the result of not paying for two wars, two tax cuts, and an expensive prescription drug program. On top of that, the effects of the recession put a $3 trillion hole in our budget. All this was before I walked in the door."
Here is the video. Watch to the end and see if you can tell what Sen. John McCain says...
Did you get it? He said, "Blame it on Bush." He's not giving advice, mind you. That's the Senator musing at the President's hypocrisy. No, the only people that advise blaming Bush are the President's advisers.
What!? Did I just call the President a hypocrite!? Yep, and here is why...
First... Who recalls when the Democrats took power in Congress? It was during the Bush administration. In fact, when the 2009 budget was passed on 14 Mar 2008 only two Republicans voted yes. The 51-44 vote was due to the Democrats saying yes. The "yeas" included Sen. Obama, Sen. Joe Biden, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, and Sen. Hillary Clinton. You may recognize some of those names.
So how can he blame someone else for a budget for which he and his party, including some of his top ranking appointments, voted? A budget that was expected to add over $400 billion (with a B) to the deficit while spending $3.1 trillion (with a T).
Obama, Biden and Clinton also voted yes to the $700 billion TARP bill on 01 Oct 2008. Then there is the travesty that transpired on 17 Feb 2009 when Obama signed the $787 billion stimulus plan (three Republicans said yes to this one). He also signed a request from the Liberal-laden Congress three weeks later when they wanted an extra $410 billion in spending. Cha-Ching!
The bottom line is this... President Obama approved the budget he's blaming on the Republican's either by voting for it in the Senate, or signing it into law on the Resolute Desk (not the Resolution Desk, Mr. President, and keep your feet off it). Not only are he and the Democratic Party partially responsible for the deficit he "inherited", I have not been able to find one instance where he voted against any Bush-era spending. Not once. So whose fault is it he "walked through the door" to what he found?
Here's a little bonus prize for all of you who have made it this far... Projected spending!!
Well look at that... it seems that in just one year he spent as much as Bush did in eight.
Wake up America. Our government is spending too much, too fast. It's not just the Democrats, but they are definitely leading the way. We can not support this spending. But more importantly, I want the leader of the free world to quit blaming others for something he helped create.
What was the TARP bill?
ReplyDeleteI made it through it all. The "Anointed one" is the worst in office I have ever seen. I don't like to even speak the name. I will admitt that he can do one thing really well. I mean two.
ReplyDelete1.great at the Blame game and two ticking off the people. Why don't you campaign to kick his sorry useless big ears out of "OUR WHITE HOUSE"
not afriad of the complete words either not just "WH"- J
TARP stands for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. It was the beginning of the bailouts. In essence, the government bought assets (primarily sub-prime mortgages, but not solely) from distressed financial institutions. In theory it is a sound concept, and reminiscent of the bailout during the Reagan/Bush era savings and loan crisis. While I did not follow politics closely then, I am sure I would have had heartburn with their approach, also.
ReplyDeleteMy most fundamental misgiving with the government stepping in to save any business is that it’s not their job. Big government is not entitled to spend taxpayers’ dollars to save a company. In my opinion it prevents the natural evolution of finance. Everyone touts the importance of small business. Well, let the behemoths die off and make room for the little guys. GM did not start off as a company “too big to fail”, nor did any bank. Their replacements are waiting in the wings ready to fill the gap left by the dinosaurs. People should be really wary to hear a company is “too big to fail.” It should scare you. If a company is run correctly it will succeed, if it is not run correctly it will fail. And when it dies it will leave behind pieces that smaller companies can use to get big and strong (personnel, resources, customers, etc.). It’s the circle of life, Simba.
Also, I’d like to clarify my feelings toward the President. I think he is an extremely intelligent man with a fantastic work ethic. I am sure on a personal level I would very much enjoy his company and consider him my friend. I do not dislike him or wish ill upon him in any way. I do NOT, however, agree with his politics or methodology. He and I agree on most things regarding what is important to the American people. I might prioritize a little differently, but in all I agree with the issues he is attacking. I just feel that he and the Liberals are doing it wrong. Very wrong. There is no money, yet we are spending more and more every day. If you or I ran our finances the way the government is running the treasury we would go to prison. And I truly feel his solutions to the problems are not the best answer.
In short, as a man I think he deserves to be respected as much as any other. As a President, I find him a little spoiled, a total spendthrift, an attention hog, and arrogant. My opinion. As a Navy Chief I give him points for arrogance… the rest has to go.
That being said it is unfair to blame him for everything. I sincerely believe that in his mind he is doing the best thing. I don’t suspect him of having ulterior motives. Let’s not direct all of our venom at one man; it’s taken thousands of politicians and nearly 234 years to get where we’re at.
Agreed, and agreed. Recently, after watching "General George Washington", my seven year old felt compelled to write me this note:
ReplyDeleteDear Mommy,
Congress has no money. Please send help!
Love,
Caroline
Wish today's Congress had the same transparency and vulnerablility today, that they had then. But that was a different America.