Although it is getting very tiresome and it is losing it’s bite, Democrats still are desperately clinging to “we inherited eight years of Bush policies, yada, yada, yada.” Was it eight years? If so, how did he get re-elected in 2004? I will be among the first to say that Bush wandered off the conservative reservation with his spending, but Bush didn’t create Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac either.
What Have We Inherited?
Let’s take a look at everything else we have inherited. Why stop at Bush?
- With 20% of the federal budget locked in to Social Security and this also being essentially a very large ponzi scheme for which we have enormous unfunded liabilities, who did we inherit this from? Franklin Delano Roosevelt – Democrat.
- What about that other ticking time bomb, Medicare and Medicaid? Thank you Lyndon Baines Johnson – Democrat.
- Fannie Mae — Need I say more? Franklin Delano Roosevelt – Democrat
- Department of Agriculture – elevated to Cabinet level at a time when agricultural employment in this country was 70%-80% of the population. In 2008 agricultural employment was about 2%-3% of the population. Why do we still need it? Thank you Grover Cleveland – Democrat
- Department of Education – has spent $1 trillion since its founding and we all know how much it has improved education in this country. Thank you Jimmy Carter – Democrat
- Department of Energy – Remember the Synfuels project where we were going to convert coal to oil after the first Arab Oil Embargo? It was a great idea as long as oil stayed above $40 per barrel at the time. Thank you Jimmy Carter – Democrat
- Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) – think of all the wildly successful urban development projects over the years, warehousing our poor in drug infested, dangerous housing projects. Let’s not forget HUD’s contribution to the current financial meltdown where they aggressively pushed greater lending for homes in poor rural and urban areas. Thank you Lyndon Baines Johnson – Democrat
- Community Reinvestment Act — another key to the housing bubble, Thank you Jimmy Carter – Democrat:
“Urged on by ACORN, congressional Democrats and the Clinton administration helped push tolerance for high-risk loans through every sector of the banking system — far beyond the sort of banks originally subject to the CRA. So it was the efforts of ACORN and its Democratic allies that first spread the subprime virus from the CRA to Fannie and Freddie and thence to the entire financial system. Soon, Democratic politicians and regulators actually began to take pride in lowered credit standards as a sign of ‘fairness’ — and the contagion spread.”
- Department of Transportation – used to be part of the Department of Commerce. Split off to create another bureaucracy. Thank you Lyndon Baines Johnson – Democrat
Gee, all of this we inherited from the pantheon of Democratic gods. It makes Bush sound like a piker.
Will We Never Learn?
When this country was founded Congress created three departments: Department of War, the Department of State, and the Department of the Treasury. That pretty much fits what the founders intended. A limited federal government that would deal with external issues and defend us from our enemies. There are now fifteen federal cabinet level agencies. Why is it that Democrats feel this need to create massive new bureaucracies? Why don’t they ever go away when they have achieved their mission? We are now facing crushing deficits brought about by decades of government growth brought about by the Democrats.
It’s time to stop blaming Bush. Mr. Obama, you wanted this job. You won this job. Now, do this job and stop bitching about what you inherited. If anyone has something to bitch about it is we Americans, because you and your fellow travelers have built this house of cards and you think the only solution is to build it bigger, faster. If the load is too heavy to carry, we don’t need vitamins (VAT tax) to get stronger, we need to lighten the load. We have to shrink this beast down to a manageable size, NOW.
