You steal it, you own it – GOP this legacy is yours

On looking back over the reign of Bush we mustn’t forget the protest that took place during his inauguration. How ironic is it that while the religious right was basking in the glory of his victory the rest of America was protesting? It is without a doubt that Bush was not the people’s selection and most felt he was no more than a thief; him and the GOP.

My how the truth must hurt now? Bush was unacceptable for the bulk of the American people back then and he is still just as unacceptable. There is no hiding the fact that 3 out of 4 Americans can not wait until he’s finally out of the White House. It must be small and cold comfort that only 23% of billions of people find that Bush did a wonderful job as president.

After 8 years of Bush’s blatant naked aggression against Iraq – a war crime – the end result is that he has not only bankrupted the US, he and his cohorts have brought the entire world to the brink of economic ruin. The near destruction of America by an arrogant ruler brings to mind Rome.

If you can believe the words of a religious bigot, Pat Robertson, then you will think he spoke words of wisdom when he said:

“As the most dominant empire since Roman times, America has helped to bring great wealth and prosperity to the world.”

Yet, it must be noted, ironically, that Robertson left out the most important detail regarding Rome when he compared America to Rome’s dominance and prosperity: Rome fell.

Ironically, Rome fell for the same reasons that the good old USA might ultimately fall. Rome had despoiled their land, waged war upon both the small farmer and the laborer, outsourced its industry, devalued their currency and subverted their products from labor. Sounds familiar? Lest we forget Bush has always considered himself to be an emperor/dictator.

It seems Bush has already pulled out his fiddle and even now can be heard playing on the mountain tops as America burns from the weight of the GOPs failed ideology that lead directly to an economic collapse.

America is indulging in the same wasteful practice as Rome under the leadership of the GOP. The fact that our deficit is the highest in the world only goes to show that the GOP economics has made America less productive and very much close to complete bankruptcy. This is not just a Bush problem. This is a GOP problem. The idiom of their ideology which they represent with the constant mantra of less government and more fiscal responsibility is also inclusive of less oversight of our industries – banking, auto, coal, etc., less building of productivity as a country via labor, and the systematic outsourcing of jobs under the guise of free market.

As recently as 2006, many blogs, newspapers and electronic media were reporting a ‘global economic boom’. Bands might well have played ‘The Charleston’ or ‘Varsity Drag‘, the newsreel soundtrack to heady days of fast bucks and faster women, rowdy days in which the belief that anyone could get rich was encouraged by the GOP. What was in it for them? Votes! The GOP was living in a past best remembered for the Stutz Bearcat and Racoon Coats soon to be followed by “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”

The Republican Great Depression began in 1929, not 1932, and it was the direct result of 9 years of unrelenting trickle-down economics delivered under three Republican Presidents (Harding, Coolidge and Hoover) and their treasury Secretary, the anti-tax, anti-regulation corporate titan, Andrew Mellon. — Yeah, Right: “This Economy Is Strong and Other Tall Tales

The recovery from the depression took a war (World War II) in order to restore people back to work. During that period, fair and progressive taxation took place. Unfortunately, the GOP stepped in and with their usual ideology the rich were taxed less and less and productivity fell. Hence, disparities in income distributions occurred. As such the rich got richer and the middle class shrunk.

Not since Ronald Reagan have our national deficit grown so completely out of whack. Reagan was by far one of the worst fiscally responsible presidents. Our budget ballooned, there was no trickle down effect, productivity declined, unemployment rose, and job growth declined. Under Bush’s control of the government such is the case again.

To constantly play the game that the Democrats were also perpetrators of the GOPs’ crime, though fashionable, is totally false. That no lessons have been learned by the GOP is evident unto itself. We had Enron, WorldCom, Arthur Anderson, Countrywide, even a depression to help us learn from our mistakes but nothing stop the GOP machine of less government and less regulation.

It’s as if everyone in the GOP was reading the same handbook on how to destroy our country in 8 years or less. There was a pervasive belief that every bubble would last forever.  Never mind the fact that we’ve seen quite a few bubbles burst.

All Democratic Presidents have presided over greater economic growth and job creation than any Republican President since World War II (all emphasis is ours).

• When Bush Jr took office, job creation was worst under a Republican, Bush Sr, at 0.6% per year and best under a Democrat, Johnson, at 3.8% per year.
• Economic growth under President Carter was far greater than under Reagan or Bush Sr.  In fact, economic growth in general was greater under Johnson, Kennedy, Carter, and Clinton than under Reagan or Bush. [Democrats always outperform a failed party: the GOP!]
• The job creation rate under Clinton was 2.4% significantly higher than Ronald Reagan’s 2.1% per year.
• The “top performing Presidents” by this standard, in order from best down, were Johnson, Carter, Clinton, and Kennedy. The “worst” (in descending order) were Nixon, Reagan, Bush.
• Half of jobs created under Reagan were in the public sector–some 2 million jobs added to the Federal Bureaucracy.  (Hadn’t he promised to reduce that bureaucracy?)
• Reagan, though promising to reduce government and spending, tripled the national debt and left huge deficits to his successor.   (Bush Jr’s record will be even worse.)
• By contrast, most of the jobs created on Clinton’s watch were in the private sector.
• Put another way:  All Democratic Presidents beats Republican Presidents since World War II.

(Source:  the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, CBO, and BEA)

This current economic problems is not a Bush problem, it is a GOP problem as well.  The GOPs’ ideology has proven that it is unworkable, flawed and unable to substain a growing nation.  As such, this current economic crisis is not only owed by Bush but by the entire GOP. As Bush is currently on a mission to repair his tattered legacy, it would be wise for the GOP to join him in that endeavor.  The current state of affairs is not just Bush’s legacy but belongs equally to the GOP and their failed ideology.