For those who tune only into the conservative right radio and TV programs or read only conservative-slanted opinion pieces and news items, it would be easy to assume that all of the problems-- especially the economic and political ones--began when Barack Obama became President of the United States in January of 2009.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Most of the problems this nation faces--problems which are monumental and which threaten the political and economic integrity of the United States--have almost nothing whatsoever to do with President Barack Obama.
These problems are the result of irresponsible actions going back at least forty years. The fault is not with Obama but with presidents and Congresses across those 40 years.
President Reagan accelerated the development of the major problems with his misguided supply side economics. Presidents George H. W. Bush and Clinton both contributed. Bush by following closely in Reagan's footsteps for a time and Clinton by signing into law the media conglomeration bill of 1995 and the banking reform act of 1999.
In particular, however, a rather substantial measure of the blame must rest squarely on the shoulders of George W. Bush (GWB) and the conservative Congresses from 1994 to 2006.
It was GWB and the GOP's radical right in Congress that turned the surpluses of the Clinton/Gingrich era into ever-increasing deficits. It was GWB who slashed taxes for the wealthy and, by doing so, created the rising tide of deficits. This also increased the vast--and ever-increasing--gulf between the wealthy few and the increasingly impoverished multitudes that make up the shrinking middle-class and the ever-more-numerous poor.
It was GWB and the Congress who decimated the laws and policies which kept the greed-driven financial and banking sector scoundrels under some measure of control. Once GWB and the radical right in Congress got rid of the constraints, the most awesome financial crisis since the Great Depression was guaranteed. And, that crisis began while GWB was president.
It was GWB who destroyed the global goodwill and unity of post-9/11 and turned the United States into a pariah by invading Iraq on false assumptions. It was GWB, by invading Iraq, that let Osama bin Laden escape capture, first into Tora Bora and then into Pakistan.
It was GWB and the Congress who, as part of his tax give away to the rich, stood by while millions of American jobs were outsourced to other countries and who saw to it that corporations got tax breaks for such transfers.
Are millions out of work? You bet. GWB was president while that happened. In fact, during part of Obama's time in office more jobs have been created than lost, something that did not happen while GWB was president.
It was GWB and Cheney who mindlessly pursued energy policies that focused on the use of declining reserves of fossil fuels. GWB made sure that dirty coal would continue to be the primary fuel for electric generation, thus ignoring both nuclear and renewable options and ensuring that the pump price of gasoline would skyrocket.
It was President GWB who vacationed more than any previous person in that office, who turned world opinion against the United States, who involved this nation in two unwinable wars, who enriched the wealthy at the expense of the rest of us, who let bin Laden slip away, who will go down in history -- if history is fair and honest -- as one of the worst presidents this nation has ever had.
What President Barack Obama is trying, mightily, to do is to steer this nation back to economic stability, to a less-contentious political climate and to a higher standing in the eyes of the rest of the world. While some may see that as campaigning, it is more truthful and correct to label it as responsible leadership at home and statesmanship abroad. Leadership and statesmanship that are badly needed.
Sincerely,
Hal Mansfield
1275 W. Calle Serrano, Green Valley, AZ 85622-8441