Barack Obama Can No Longer Blame George W Bush...

[kentuck]

for the problems we are now facing.

I saw this on a "tea-bagger's" sign the other day. Isn't it correct?

This is Obama's economy. These are his wars. These are his unemployment problems.

It doesn't matter that George W Bush left them in his lap. They are now his responsibility. Even if his policies did not create these problems, they are his to address.

Perhaps it is not possible to fix these problems in 4 or 8 years, but they come with the job. Barack Obama cannot blame George W Bush any longer. Do you agree?

[Jennicut]

1. The deficit is one area where he had little control over.

But I don't see Obama backing away from dealing with most of these issues as if they are his own anyway.

[Captain Hilts]

2. Guess he'll have to blame Clinton then, just like Bush did for 8 years. nt

[Flying Dream Blues]

9. LOL! So true... nt

[muffin1]

20. bush even managed to do it

on an 'exit interview' he did on (I think) ABC. With only a couple of months left, he couldn't resist blaming Clinton - you know, the guy that left us with a balanced budget.

[NJmaverick]

3. Bush spent 8 years destroying our economy

I think President Obama is going to need at least 2 years to at least partially fix it

[Winterblues]

4. Funny how the Bush* people are still blaming Clinton for everything..

Obama has assumed Command and yes he accepts responsibility for every bit of America's woes even though neither he nor Democrats created them..

[DCKit]

6. Not ALL Dems are blameless.

If they'd spent a fraction of the time fighting every step of the way as the (R)s do obstructing, fighting, screaming and lying, Bush wouldn't have been able to do nearly as much damage.

Then again, the (R)s had a complicit M$M in their corner, leaving no platform for the (D)s to voice an opinion.

[lonestarnot]

5. Does it really matter who Mr. President blames?

I mean he can say it, but voters do the blaming.

[Ozymanithrax]

7. I think there is a difference between fault and responsibility.

[unpossibles]

8. depends on the issue, but I mostly disagree

but I also did not expect him to be able to have everything fixed in one year.

And frankly, I am a bit concerned that you'd find something on a teabagger's sign and consider it correct.

Let me put it this way, it's Obama's job to fix these problems he inherited, so that IS his responsibility, but the problems themselves are not necessarily his, except for the ones where he actually aligned with Bush or has actively refused to do the right thing, such as with DADT or DOMA.

The economy? Really? I still blame Reagan for much of our problems and rightly so, and his successors for the times they went along with it.

[Bluerthanblue]

18. good answer- what's more, what good does blaming do anyone?

what is the solution to where we are?

Short of repeating the same crap that got us to where we are, what ideas do they offer?

Pres.O. hasn't gone around blaming imo- He does remind those who have nothing but contempt for his work to reverse the course of this country about who chose this direction.

America is not a canoe- it's a big barge, it's not easy to change course quickly. Especially when half the crew aren't willing to follow directions.

[Bluerthanblue]

10. odd, the only people I see eager to BLAME others are those who

don't have any meaningful plans to address the shithole we are in - in large part due to the actions of the last administration.

Is Pres. O trying to avoid DOING something about the mess we are in by distracting everyone into focusing on the problems??? Or is he proposing difficult, uncomfortable and unpopular solutions to a situation that cannot be fixed easily and without sacrifice?

The teabaggers don't have any answers, all they have are complaints and angry venting.

"If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem".

Where is the republican/teaparty solution?

[Urban Prairie]

15. Where is the Rethuglican/Teabagger solution?

Simple: Increase defense spending, cut taxes and eliminate entitlements..ie..using the former two, to justify doing the latter one, resulting in a Hitler-like "final" solution.

[Bluerthanblue]

22. that's been their direction so far, and gotten us where we are- not a

solution- it's the path that's led us here.

:shrug:

[Urban Prairie]

31. But they haven't (yet) been able to eliminate federal entitlement spending

Which is at the very core of the "personal responsibility" mantra that they expouse.

Once you are smacked on the butt and your umbilical cord is cut, only fate should determine whether you can take your next breath or not. If for example, you were a preemie and your mother had no health insurance, she better pull out the rosary and pray, because incubation would not have been an option for your survival, if the RW had their way.

[blondeatlast]

11. It's Obama's responsibility but Ronald Reagan/Bush I/Bush IIs fault. It's disturbing

that a teabagger's sign "inspires" this post--and that you can't tell the very discernible difference.

[kentuck]

14. Oh, I can tell the difference...

I just think it's a subject worth discussing.

Personally, I do not think these problems can be fixed in two terms. I think Bush and the Republicans royally screwed our country. Those "tea-baggers" can't wait to blame someone else for the problems we face. They refuse to accept responsibility.

Nobody is siding with the tea-baggers. We are using their talking points to try and enlighten others. We cannot run from the truth.

[newtothegame]

12. I think there's some merit to it. You wanted to be President that bad, then be President.

I think the egos of Presidential candidates lead them to thirst for a job that in their hearts they shouldn't really want.

[salguine]

42. You could probably say that about 99% of politicians. That thing inside that drives

someone to be a politician is probably something that should disqualify them from ever being one in the first place.

[LiberalFighter]

13. Will they still consider it to be Obama responsible when the economy improves?

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

16. Oh, I think we both know the answer to that question (nt)

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

17. Is anything George W's fault? For 8 long years, the Republicans blamed Clinton for everything.

I don't think Obama is bucking responsibility for decisions he is making. But, for Republicans to lay ALL the blame at his feet is a little disingenuous, no?

This is classic Republicans, though. They never take responsibility for anything. Bush has never admitted any mistake, neither did Cheney. None of them have.

And yes, Obama has stated repeatedly that he will accept responsibility for *HIS* actions, but not for decisions/actions that are not connected to his administration.

What's so difficult for the tea baggers to understand about that?

It sounds like you are agreeing with them, allowing them to cloud your reasoning on this.

Bottom line: Obama is responsible ONLY for his policy decisions. Not for Bush's. The difference between the tea baggers and us is that we own up to our mistakes. They don't.

[Ganja Ninja]

19. George W Bush is a living breathing reminder of the failure of the right.

That failure was so massive and complete that we may yet collapse from it despite our best efforts. It's not surprising they want to flush him down the memory hole as fast as they can and put the blame on Obama. It's hard for them to reconcile that failure with their continued belief in all things conservative. It makes them look like the nut jobs they are.

[Turbineguy]

21. The blame is

on Obama, Clinton, Carter, Johnson, Kennedy, Truman, Roosevelt, Wilson......

[CLANG]

23. That's all they've got left now.

[ecstatic]

24. So we should all pretend as if Bush isn't responsible

Luckily, Obama is doing a great job of cleaning up *'s mess.

[unpossibles]

36. exactly. I forget the source but I think a good analogy

is the teabaggers drove their car into a ditch and are now yelling at the tow truck driver who's trying to pull them out.

[emulatorloo]

25. The Teabaggers are protesting "higher taxes" EVEN THOUGH THEY GOT A TAX CUT

So I am supposed to give another one of their IDIOT ARGUMENTS credibility?

As another poster pointed out, Obama is responsible to fix Bush's mess. That's what we elected him to do. But Bush created Bush's mess

[ixion]

26. Well, of course Bush could never EVER be absolved of blame, however

Obama had continued much of what he started, so he owns it now.

[Vincardog]

27. Right he cannot blame George W Bush it is time to blame RAYGUN

[unblock]

28. yeah, one year in, fdr couldn't blame hoover for a damn thing.

it's really fdr's fault. had fdr been a good president, he would have started wwii as soon as he took office. THAT would have brought a swift end to the depression!

:sarcasm:

[Xenotime]

29. We are still fixing Bush's problems.

[blindpig]

30. It ain't the figureheads,

it's the system. Business and moneyed interests have owned our government since the gitgo. You don't even get a chance at a shot at the presidency unless these interests can live with your candidacy. The difference between Administrations are mostly of style and a bit of emphasis but you can believe that on the stuff which is important to those interests it's gonna come out mostly the same. On 'culture war' issues there may be differences but that is fodder for the masses, the ruling class couldn't give a shit as long as the money flows in the right direction. We get punked, the teabaggers get punked, and they laugh all the way to the bank while we squabble.

[abelenkpe]

32. no.

Stop hanging out with teabaggers.

[jtrockville]

33. The finger-pointing can't stop at Bush.

Let's fact it: Bush should have been removed from office. Not only would it have prevented much of the destruction he caused, it would have prevented the destruction from the next criminal cabal (and you know there will be one) who will be even more emboldened knowing there are no consequences.

[HughMoran]

34. Good, so can he take credit too?

GDP Projected Growth

[WeekendWarrior]

35. And considering what he inherited, he's doing a mighty fine job. nt

[EC]

37. No I don't agree

Yes, it is up to him to solve the problems...but the problems themselves go to * and the Repukes in Congress that made the problems...most of the deficit was left by them, not created by Obama...we have to get people to understand...the wars and medicare part D were NOT included in *'s budget, so people don't seem to get that they were not added into the deficit until Obama said NO MORE ENRON ACCOUNTING...everything goes on the budget...


Plus, I DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO FORGET WHAT REPUKE POLICIES REALLY DO TO THE ECONOMY...

[kentuck]

38. Exactly!

We cannot let the "Tea-baggers" frame this issue and lay all of this disaster at the feet of Barack Obama and the Democrats. That is the direction we are headed. If we do not respond just the way you did above, these morons will intentionally forget who is responsible for the mess. That doesn't mean that Barack Obama is not responsible for "fixing" it. But there is a large distinction between creating the mess and fixing the mess. And we must not let them forget it.

[upi402]

39. He just said our jobs are never coming back - to retrain

But there is nothing to retrain for. He said construction jobs aren't coming back, and those jobs don't get off-shored. He knows- and isn't going to redo trade laws and NAFTA.

[Fleshdancer]

40. All I know is that every time a Democrat does well, it's because of Reagan...

As for taking the blame when things go wrong, it will either be Obama's fault or Bill Clinton's penis.

[salguine]

41. No, I don't agree. Obama has had every opportunity to change course and reverse direction on

Bush's policies...not only has he failed to roll back entirely too many of them, he's also extended and expanded some of the most egregious ones. He's come running whenever big banks and health insurance cartels want OUR money, but he hasn't showed nearly the same enthusiasm for anything that would actually help regular people. And it seems like he hasn't yet found a regulatory henhouse that he couldn't pack with foxes.

It's been WELL over a year. If Obama doesn't own this shit now, when will he ever? Yes, it's time to stop blaming Bush. This IS Obama's economy. These ARE his wars. These ARE his unemployment problems.

I'm fed up with excuses. You should be too.

[Obamanaut]

43. I agree. nt

[earth mom]

44. Yes-they are Obama's problems now and he's keeping it all the same.

What does that tell you?

[MrSlayer]

45. Well they ARE now his problems to address.

No doubt about that. He's been addressing them as much and as well as Congress allows. We should be building and repairing more things for sure. That's always the easiest way to put people back to work.

[malaise]

46. BS

After eight fugging years, Bush was still blaming FDR, Kennedy, Carter and Clinton