Posted on 08/28/2012 8:15:10 AM PDT by upchuck
The name of George W. Bush graces no chair at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. The 43rd president left behind monumental deficits and an economy in tatters. Republicans hold him responsible for the party's straying from its alleged small-government ethic. They want the public to forget the man.
Thing is, the man wasn't the problem. His plan was the problem. And there is very little in the "new" Republican proposals that would change the plan. It's more tax cuts targeting the well-to-do, a bigger defense budget and less regulation. The one place Republicans suggest real change is in Medicare. Mitt Romney's pick for vice president, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, proposes a Medicare voucher system that would save money by making sure that taxpayer subsidies don't keep pace with projected health care costs.
There are less radical ways to curb soaring Medicare costs, but Ryan's idea does deserve half a credit for courage. It doesn't get a full credit for two reasons. One is it would not impose the voucher system on anyone 55 or older -- that is, for those who are really paying attention. The second reason is that it privatizes the hard conversations on what Medicare should offer, discussions the public should be having with their government. What privatizing coverage does is move the tough calls to insurance company executive suites, where the profit motive strongly favors denying care.
Another part of the Bush plan is a continued demonizing of government regulation. In the Bush years, weakened regulation led to billions being stolen in Iraq. It let Wall Street do as it pleased, including speculate with money backed by taxpayer guarantees. Lax regulations created the housing bubble: Government looked the other way as hucksters roped otherwise prudent Americans into abusive mortgage terms. Many foolish regulations no doubt fester and need the ax, but the Republicans' generalized hostility to the very concept of setting ground rules shows a party that learned little from the Bush fiasco.
It is unclear why folks demanding smaller government also want more defense spending. Ronald Reagan and Bush pushed for larger Pentagon budgets, as do Romney and Ryan today. The 2012 candidates would do us a service by explaining their case for bigger military budgets. David Stockman, a former Reagan budget director and critic of the Republican lust for military spending, recently noted that the defense budget today (after inflation) is almost double what it was when President Eisenhower left office and America faced a genuine Soviet nuclear threat.
Ryan styles himself the paragon of restored fiscal rectitude, but during the Bush years he voted for two unfunded wars, the Medicare drug benefit (entirely paid for with borrowed money) plus enormous tax cuts. We should note that a few principled Republicans opposed the tax cuts as fiscally reckless and the drug benefit as an expensive expansion of government. Not Paul Ryan, and also not House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, another self-proclaimed "young gun."
The Bush tax cuts drained the Treasury of money needed to pay for what the Republicans wanted, never mind the Democrats. Ryan now calls for even more tax cuts with the proviso that they be partly offset by closing loopholes. Broadening the tax base is not a bad idea, but Ryan's plan fails to impress because it does not specify what loopholes would go. How about doing away with the big popular deductions, like those for health coverage or mortgage interest? Ryan's lips are sealed.
So while the Tampa convention hosts no George W. Bush, it has his plan. More defense spending. Less regulation. More tax cuts for the upper incomes. As another famous Republican might have said: Here we go again.
She's merely echoing nobama's mantra about "we've already done that and it didn't work."
I would note that Carter, as well as his ideas, will be front and center at the Dem convention.
Froma Harrop sounds like a nasty contagious type venereal disease.
Carter is not in Charlotte but he will be just in time for the RAT Fest.
Barf. Do these history revisionists know that the economy is much worse under Obama than it was with Bush? The economy was actually doing very well for most of Bush’s term, until the Democrats took congress. And what about gas prices?
So, they’re STILL running against Bush...
This article is one long lie. The housing bubble was caused by people like Barney Frank forcing lending institutions to give loans to people who would not normally have qualified. They could not maintain their loans, and the housing bubble burst. Please also remember that the Democrats took over the Congress in 2006, and after they were in charge, the economy tanked. The Democrats were the cause, not George Bush.
>>>The housing bubble was caused by people like Barney Frank forcing lending institutions to give loans to people who would not normally have qualified.<<<
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Here is a 2002 speech by Bush, just a few years prior to the collapse, pushing home loans for totally unqualified minorities.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqR15H0gNBU
“Harrop has rejected the assumption that the calling Tea Party members “Economic terrorists” during the debt ceiling crisis was uncivil.” Wikipedia
Would it be uncivil of me to note that:
“FROMA HARROP” looks like looks like it is made up of:
FROM A HARlot and tRollOP.
If this wasn’t lunatic Leftist Froma, I’d be upset with the column. Even most Libs should be able to see that Lyndon Baines Bush was no small government, regulation-cutting conservative. But to Froma, anyone with an “R” next to their name wants to eliminate all government just to watch the children and elderly starve.
Encouraging banks to provide financing for low income families to buy affordable homes is not the same as forcing banks to give loans to unqualified borrowers of all income levels to buy million dollar homes they could not otherwise afford.
STOP BLAMING BUSH!!
Here is a 2002 speech by Bush, just a few years prior to the collapse, pushing home loans for totally unqualified minorities.
His words not mine. Stop blaming me. I am not the issue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqR15H0gNBU
Listen to Bush's speech, he said you can have as good as home as anyone else, even with bad credit...lol.
Stop blaming others!
It is clear that it is NOT a polling organization
but a place for left wing loons.
I blame the greedy bastards: Dodd, Frank, the real estate agents and mortgage brokers who convinced people that they can afford a home twice below their income levels. If you were not so blind by your hatred for Bush maybe you would see that.
ok Dems, keep on blaming Bush. Voters will know better!!
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