Seems logical

[vmax]

It happened during Bush's Presidency and Obama seems to be unable to stop the bleeding.

We tanked fast since 9/11. Looks like the terrorists won.

 

One well-known economist says that former President George W. Bush is to blame for the current economic crisis.

 

Nouriel Roubini, a New York University professor nicknamed "Dr. Doom" for his dour views on the economy, says in this video that when President Obama came to power, he inherited a budget deficit of $1.2 trillion. When Bush came to power, the country had a surplus of $300 billion.

 

How did we get a $1.5 trillion change in our fiscal condition during Bush's time in office? Roubini lists five factors:

 

1. We cut taxes.

 

2. We spent $2 trillion on two unwinnable wars.

 

3. We doubled discretionary spending. Some conservatives originally aimed to "starve the beast" by cutting taxes in order to force future cuts in spending. But spending grew so out of control in Bush's term that no beast was starved, Roubini said. In fact, the beast was fed.

 

4. We added entitlement benefits like the Medicare drug benefit.

 

5. We entered the largest economic and financial crisis ever, which caused a huge increase in the deficit through the "recession deficit" and the cost of bailing out the banks and financial institutions.

http://money.msn.com/mutual-fund/article.aspx?post=09d90714-2402-4772-a6c5-86d2af7ccaed

 

In the end it was money that brought down the Wall and the U.S.S.R....the arms race.

Now it's our turn.

[papasmurfbell]

No kidding. This is not new. This his how most empire die.

[OutsideRzAcE]

Bush got off too easy for lying us into Iraq. I often wonder if Bin Laden intended all along for 9/11 to draw the US into financially draining wars....he probably got more than he hoped for with 2 of them.

 

The country won't start to heal until we get out of those wars and undo these asinine GOP tax breaks for the weathly. Hopefully Americans will vote out the bastards that compromised on this during the debt deal.

[dc.]

It started before the debt deal when Obama folded on the tax cuts in December, just a silly mood.

 

Interesting OpEd in the NY Times today about the make-up of the Tea Party - it traces the Tea Party through a series of surveys of citizens in 2006 and again this year/last year, in other words it tracked the same people as they thought about politics over 4-5 years (which is well before the Tea Party existed).

 

Findings? The whole country is more small government oriented these days, so that's not a distinguishing Tea Party traits. But despite what they like to say the single biggest determining factors about who joined the Tea Party??? 1. Republicans 2. Religious fanatics/Christian Right 3. Anti Abortion and perhaps most controversial 4. Those with negative opinions of immigrants and minorities (and this was pre-Obama too)

 

... Hmmm....

[papasmurfbell]

Well maybe bin Laudin read the Art of War. If your force is smaller bleed the larger force. It is not a new concept.

 

With respect to Afghanistan. The Brits, Alexander the Great, Soviets, and many other occupiers have found holding that land impossible.

[Spen]

I think I read Bin Laden stated that he wanted us in Afghanistan long before we were there, that he viewed it as an 'empire killer'.

[papasmurfbell]

That could be true. I do not remember reading that but it makes a lot of sense.

 

I highly recommend reading Charlie Wilsons War. It is very interesting. The history of the region makes up a large portion of the book.