By Jordan Chariton for US Daily Review.
As the 5,000th Republican presidential debate concluded Thursday night in South Carolina, the biggest culprit behind most of the issues being discussed escaped mention.
This shadowy figure is undoubtedly most responsible for the economic downfall struck onto America but has astonishingly avoided large-scale attention or criticism throughout the campaign, on cable news, or by the man most burdened by his destructive decisions.
As the Warden in the great Shawshank Redemption screamed, “It’s a miracle! Man up and vanished like a fart in the wind!”
Yes, three years after one of the worst presidential performances in U.S history, George W. Bush’s economic recklessness and incompetence is getting a free pass by Republicans allowed to blame the aftermath of his wreckage on President Obama and by Democrats who have folded under the “stop blaming Bush” mantra.
If you put aside your political affiliation and deal in facts, it is remarkable that the misdeeds of one President can all but vanish into thin air only three years after his two terms ended. This is the man who upon entering office in 2001 took the projected $5.6 trillion surplus for 2002-2011 and promptly headed to the casino for some Republican roulette. He took a turn at every table throwing America’s money away at any chance he could.
There were the unnecessary tax cuts favoring his wealthy base, reckless wars in countries posing us no threat, additional and unprecedented post war tax cuts, unpaid for entitlement programs for seniors…all of this put on Uncle Sam’s credit card. Throw in the deregulation and lack of oversight on Wall Street and you have the crash of 2008 and the millions of jobs, homes, and savings accounts lost.
When he was done, our debt had doubled to 10 trillion along with a meager three million jobs created over eight years. That January as he flew back to the Texas ranch, 750,000 jobs flew out of the country under his watch. Millions of more jobs were lost over the next year until a new President’s policies started mopping up the mess.
Even with all of this data and history, Bush has escaped prosecution both from the courts and the majority of the American people. Republican candidates actually stand up espousing and arguing for the same policies Bush destroyed our economy with. President Obama sits down for interviews and foolishly says the buck stops with him and it’s his economy instead of stating the obvious…that he came into office under a Bush inflicted tsunami and has stabilized and even helped grow a sluggish economy. The media focuses on Obama’s “mojo” and the Republican circus while all but forgetting the man who is responsible for why the economy is the number one issue in this year’s election.
It is time for citizens to stand up and call out W as a reminder of how and why we got into the economic pit we are in today. When the general election comes around, Democrats need to run ads not only slamming the candidate but the President they are modeling their policies after. Debate moderators need to bring up the man in office just three years ago when talking about the economy and jobs. President Obama should not shy away from mentioning his name because polls say it “hurts him.”
Most importantly, the American people should never allow tough times in the present blind them to the past that brought the times on. If we don’t continue to hold the leaders responsible for mass suffering accountable, present and future Presidents will make the same reckless decisions knowing they will be mostly forgotten a few years after their term.
Just like W.
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