It's sad that the following administration always reaps what was sown

[johnaries]

by the previous administration. Say what you will wa bout the Carter Administration and it's effectiveness, but he had to face the economic and energy crop sewn by the disastrous Nixon/Ford "trickle-down" policy. And if many of Carter's energy policies had a chance to be fully implemented we wouldn't be in the mess we're in, today. Raygun is revered by the Right; especially in regards to his "supply-side Reagonomics" that was nothing more than re-branded "trickle-down". But it was actually the Fed's response using a "1-2 punch" of Keynesian economics in that solved the problem of "stagflation". Actually, Reagan did help with Keynesian economics on steroids by approving incredible amounts of deficit spending. (Cheney: "Deficits don't matter, Reagan proved that!"). Actually, one of the things that the Neo-Cons loved about Reagan was that the result of his unprecedented deficits was that Congress was forced to balance the budget and had an excuse to cut the most Progressive programs.

Oh, yeah. And they claim that he helped bankrupt the Soviet Union with the Star Wars program. Although any historian can tell you that the bankruptcy of the USSR was long coming internally and Reagan had nothing to do with it.

This time it back-fired on them, because Reagan's VP GHW Bush was elected, and he had to deal with the brunt of the economic harvest of Reagan's policies.

Then along came Clinton. The economy hit record highs, ak though even then some seeds of destruction were sewn. Al Gore tried to warn us about it. Gore warned us that the market was merely in a "bubble" that would soon burst and we needed to be prepared by squirreling away some funds in a "lock box" so we could get through after the bubble burst, Bush was yelling "give it all away! Look under your chairs! YOU get a tax cut! YOU get a tax cut......"

Now we have had 8 years of neo-Reagonomics which has saddled us with the worst deficits in American History and the worst Recession since the Great Depression (also the result of Republican policies, btw).

And who is now getting blamed for the mess we're in? Obama.

Obama inherited a house full of trash and mold. He could simply "re-paint", but that won't solve the problem. So, he's put on the mask and rubber gloves, rolled up his sleeves, and he's been scrubbing away at that mold that permeates the concrete in the foundation of our government. He can't clean it all at once, so he has to pick out what areas he should work on, today - while getting the help to clear out the rotten furniture for the spot he plans to hit tomorrow. And once that furniture is cleared out - hoo, boy! The crap it was hiding!

I don't agree with everything that Obama does. I don't like the decision for off-shore drilling. But I do like the fact that he does look at things long-term, as we see again and again.

But, again, that decision wouldn't have been necessary if we had listened to Carter back in the '70s. And if wishes were horses....

I still wish people would stop blaming the current leaders for the screw-ups of the people who came before them - who got credit for the work of people before them.

While I'm at it, TN Senator and former Mayor of Chattanooga Bob Corker is a perfect example. Despite it's location and it's historic reputation, Chattanooga had become a dirty, nasty, I mean NASTY city. What was once a tourist mecca became a city you wanted to drive through as quickly as possible. It took a Dem mayor to implement clean-up and beautification projects. It took a long time, but it worked. Because it took a long time, everyone forgot the Dem mayor who got the ball rolling. Who got credit for it? Corker. Who basically did nothing. And now he's a US Senator. Because he played the Race Card in a close election. Disgusting.

When will credit be placed where credit is due in our country?

:rant:

[SwampG8r]

1. round here lately i see

that a lot of folks are having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that some of what the GOP has been saying for a long time vis a vis
offshore drilling and domestic oil production and nuclear power are being agreed to by what they convinced themselves was a left winger
now they feel ideologically betrayed when he does exactly as he said he would
obama ran as a centrist and earlier went on record as being for at least a round of talks regarding the offshore oil drilling issue
he also has stated many times that he wants to end the atmosphere of rancor that is settling into the norm here in america
that means he has to find common ground in that selfsame atmosphere with his opposition
why cant we all help him? i dont know
i wish america had what was called once "the loyal opposition" and hope we can return to that kind of thinking
i myself am mature enough to know that some of what the GOP does is done with the best interests of the country,as they believe it to be,in its heart
i have to try very hard each day to remember that demonization of an opponent aids no one

if he is laying down seeds that will be credited to others i hope the dissipation of the hate cloud
on both our houses
is the fruit of that planting

and BTW sir you....ARE A GREAT American !!
:patriot:

[johnaries]

2. Thank You! and I'm guessing you're prolly as Drunk as I am

because I am familiar with your posts and this one is a little "rambling" and reminds me of many posts I have done that made "perfect sense to me!" Ok, it's not typical.

Which means it may be more honest, because "to hell with 'politically correct'!"

I remember the "Loyal Opposition", and I'm glad you brought it up. It's lost in today's discussions simply because of the polarization.

Why do so many people today buy into the GW Bush axiom "you're with us, or you're against us!"?

[SwampG8r]

5. i dont drink

im too good at it
but i cut hell out of my finger and they gave me pills which i dont like to take so i took them without food as ordered and earlier in the day started a war with cleveland

its rambly because im rambly

[Clio the Leo]

3. Spot on about my neighbor Corker.

And he's actually one of the more decent members of the GOP caucus. Sad.

[Cosmocat]

4. It really is mindbending ...

the wingers I have go arounds with have this insane ability to somehow put all the crape that occured on Bush's watch for his first six years on Clinton, and somehow project the crap that occured the last two years on Obama preemptively ...

Just yesterday, some arsehat who posts on another board I post on declared' Obama OWNS this recession/depression ... this is the virus that is modern day "conservatism" the absolute and complete rejection of even the first level of responsibility.

And, the "liberal" media either passively sits back and lets them redefine history, at best, or actively propogates the crape they spew ...

BO took on the worst mess since FDR, and somehow, his is on the hot seat when he has been in office for a year and 3 months and made VERY real progress in getting it turned around ...

The MSM is a MAJOR issue here ... As time goes on they get worse and worse at allowing the right wing to totally bully them into spewing their crape ...