1. Bush voters get theirs: Millions of selfish bastards (is this the politically correct term?) voted for Bush in hopes of getting rich through tax cuts and capital gains. Now they're watching their portfolios melt away and their jobs disappear. Can you say "bad investment"? I knew you could.

2. Makes the rich feel the pain of the poor: Talk about the power of leveraging - the subprime crisis has made the ownership class feel the sufferings of the poor. For every home that's foreclosed, the Dow seems to lose another point. It's almost as though God has a sense of humor or, at least, of irony.

3. So much for "small government": Bush and his Republican cronies boasted that they'd like to shrink the government down to the point where they could drown it in a bathtub. Sure, this was never anything more than hot air: government spending, government debt and government intrusion into people's lives always increase under Republican administrations. But lots of Americans believed this Republican BS. Now that Bush has essentially nationalized a good portion of America's bank system, we don't hear much talk of drowning anything anymore, unless it's the observation that the United States is drowning in debt.

4. Bailouts are only for the rich: The United States government is going to spend a minimum of US$700 billion to bailout American banks and financial institutions. In contrast, the US government spent a mere US$152 billion to send American taxpayers stimulus checks this year (which are, of course, nothing more than tax rebates, meaning that the government merely takes slightly less tax, which is hardly a giveaway at all). There are about 305 million Americans, each of whom gets a check of about US$600. In contrast, the bank bailout will cost the average American US$2,295. So, after ruining the economy, Bush has added insult to injury by miniaturizing your 401K and charging you a bill of around US$1,595 for his services. Oh, and did I mention that the bank bailout scheme allows the banks to give the money straight to their shareholders/owners in the form of dividends? And did I mention that the average American's salary is about US$35,000, while the CEO of Citibank (one of the main recipients of the government's largesse) is said to have received US$216 million when he took over the bank.

5. Bush is now an "internationalist": Before Bush invaded Iraq, he snubbed the United Nations and his henchmen mocked Western Europe as "Old Europe". Now that the American economy is hanging by a thread, Bush is begging world leaders, in particular those of Western Europe, to help save the American economy. The remarkable thing is that they appear willing to do so, despite the fact that Bush has never offered anything like an apology for America's role in bringing the world economy to the brink (let alone an apology for riding roughshod over them on the way to Iraq).

6. Bush was touted as America's "CEO President": During the 2000 presidential campaign, Bush was hailed as a savvy businessman with a Harvard MBA and "extensive" business experience. In reality, all he ever did was run companies into the ground and use his father's connections to save his ass. Too bad the press and the public paid no attention to this fact. Now that Bush has run America's economy into the ground, will Daddy Bush's connections step in to save the day? Hmm...might not be so easy now that Carlyle Capital Corporation has collapsed.

7. So much for the "ownership society": Bush used to talk a lot about building an "ownership society". However, an estimated 1.4 million homes will be foreclosed this year alone and tent cities are springing up on the outskirts of many American cities. Now, when we speak of an "ownership society", we are usually talking about sovereign wealth funds and Asian central banks owning major chunks of America's debt and equities.

8. The Plan for a New American Century? The PNAC guys who drew up the plans for a new American century hoped that by invading Iraq, the United States would gain the upper hand in coming economic struggles with China. Now, of course, China holds the United States by the short curly ones and could plunge the nation into a depression merely by buying euros instead of dollars. And did I mention that the government of Iraq just signed a US$3.8 billion contract with China to develop some of its oil fields?

9. Iraq in the black, America in the red: Due to the rise in oil prices, the Iraqi government is projected to chalk up a US$6.4 billion surplus this year. In contrast, the United States might run its first US$1 trillion budget deficit this year. No comment necessary on this one.

10. No one blames Bush: The must ungodly, screaming, naked irony of this whole mess is that no one blames Bush for any of this. Oh no, the collapse of the entire American economy was caused by a few wanna-be homeowners who took loans they couldn't afford and a few "predatory lenders" who took advantage of them. Neither the media nor the public seem to notice that the "subprime borrowers" are merely the weakest link in the economic chain, the canaries in the coalmine of the American economy. No one mentions that Bush almost doubled the national debt. No one mentions the catastrophic rise in oil prices caused by the invasion of Iraq and the threat of war with Iran, or how it slowed the economy at the worst possible time. No one mentions how Bush wasted US$1 trillion on a war of choice (money which could pay for both the bailout plan and the stimulus plan combined). No one mentions that Bush showed no leadership whatsoever as the crisis deepened. In short, no one mentions how Bush took the American economy and drove it off a cliff. Let me be frank: trying blame the meltdown entirely on subprime borrowers and lenders is like trying to blame the entire Abu Ghraib torture scandal on Pfc. Lynndie England. If you believe that Bush bears no responsibility for present economic crisis, then I've got some mortgage-backed securities you might be interested in.

* * *

Why does any of this matter, since George W Bush is almost out the door? Because John McCain's economic policies are exactly the same as those of George W Bush. So if you want to protect your job, your savings, your 401K and your future, please vote for Barack Obama on November 4th.
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About author
Chris Rowthorn is an American journalist based in Kyoto, Japan. He has written for the Japan Times and Kansai Time Out.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/18158

11. the desire of democrats to allow everyone to live the american dream backfired. by pressuring lenders to relax on the requirements to get a home loan, they effectively created a ticking-time-bomb that laid the groundwork for the carnage we are currently experiencing.

12. The president that signed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act in 1999 that allowed the sale and trade of mortgage based securities while the Republicans take the heat today: Bill Clinton. Number of Congressional democrats that helped pass the bill on to Clinton: nearly 80%.

13. Deregulation.

14. Keating5

15. McCain liked deregulation.

la de da

i am glad i live in a republican state.
for many reasons.

That is laughable and total spin you can blame the two trillion dollar defecit and the rapid rise in food and fuel prices all due to the war or the threat of war in Iran. the home owner wana bees and the crooked lenders are just an election year scape goat for the failed republican ideology.

I feel sorry for the poor people and the disabled people in your state if it turned out to be anything like the Repub. Governor did to my state.

10. No one blames Bush: The must ungodly, screaming, naked irony of this whole mess is that no one blames Bush for any of this. Oh no, the collapse of the entire American economy was caused by a few wanna-be homeowners who took loans they couldn't afford and a few "predatory lenders" who took advantage of them. Neither the media nor the public seem to notice that the "subprime borrowers" are merely the weakest link in the economic chain, the canaries in the coalmine of the American economy. No one mentions that Bush almost doubled the national debt. No one mentions the catastrophic rise in oil prices caused by the invasion of Iraq and the threat of war with Iran, or how it slowed the economy at the worst possible time. No one mentions how Bush wasted US$1 trillion on a war of choice (money which could pay for both the bailout plan and the stimulus plan combined). No one mentions that Bush showed no leadership whatsoever as the crisis deepened. In short, no one mentions how Bush took the American economy and drove it off a cliff. Let me be frank: trying blame the meltdown entirely on subprime borrowers and lenders is like trying to blame the entire Abu Ghraib torture scandal on Pfc. Lynndie England. If you believe that Bush bears no responsibility for present economic crisis, then I've got some mortgage-backed securities you might be interested in.
http://mingle2.com/topic/reply/175014?quote=5331282

A total spin? you want to show me where?

Actually the high gas prices are capitalism, we bought lots and lots of big cars when we were booming and increased demand. They decreased supply driving up the market price. it happened consistently for several years now. if you think the war is the reason for the high gas prices then i suggest you read an economics book.

also, yes, the war and other spending has put us an additional 5 (for a total of 10, not 2) trillion in debt. it doesn't change the fact that this problem we're in has been brewing for more than 8 years. at least you didn't bring up the clinton "surplus" that never existed.

And if you're looking at a loan that you know you can only afford now with your 1.5% teaser rate but when it adjusts to 8% you'll be in trouble, why would you sign it? seriously... it's not an election year scapegoat, it's stupidity of the people.

spin?

and this whole thread isn't?

I am going to go laugh myself to sleep I will pick this up tomorrow

For some reason your Mingle link is doing something weird with me.

ok... government lesson for you: we have a three branch government. while bush has some responsibility, the democratic congress has some too. as does greenspan. as does just about everyone else involved in fiscal policy. it's never as simple as you want it to be.

thanks for answering the question.

Do you know how laughable this sounds? the dems have only had a slight majority in the house and senate for less than two years,for six years it was all republican. the die was set when they came in and they still cannot over ride a veto by Bush but this election cycle expect a dem land slide

you still never answered. slight majority for either side the last 8, congress still is more to blame than Bush. you still never disputed my points.

And it's people's own ignorance that will result in a dem win this november.

How could Bush be responsible when the problem started under Clinton?

Here's something from an honest democrat: http://www.ldsmag.com/ideas/081017light.html

You hav an big fallacy in your reasoning from the first post.

Bush is not asking the world to bail US out.

the world is asking US to bailthem out...

I watch International News... Obviously you think most of us don't or you would not be shoveling this cow pooppy.

Only countries that are producing OIL are not in financial trouble... Makes you wonder if perhaps there is a delibrate financial attack underway.

Since most of the OIL producing countries are most def not our friends.

You're right. He's not asking the whole world. Just China and a couple of other countries.

I live in another country..trust me, Bush is begging....

it is ironic to me that the Bush administration went to Congress three times since 2002 and warned them of this crisis if they didnt tighten up regulations and everyone is still blaming this on Bush. It's amazing what a little propaganda can do