George Bushwhacks America!
Part Four Of The Five Part Series-Don't Be Upset With Us, At Least We're Not Republicans!
Examining the actual role of the Democratic Party In post Reagan America.
In the eight years that George W. Bush was in office, he enjoyed almost unlimited power. The media gave him a pass and did little to criticize him. George got an immunity idol because he was a wartime President. He would take the idol out and put it on display every time he uttered his magic number 9/11 in a speech. He knew that once he said 9/11, all criticism would cease, men would take off their hats, women would cry and children would salute their wise and brave President.
The only catch was that 9/11 and it's subsequent wars cost many families their loved ones.
Being a wartime President gave Bush and the Republican Party the momentum they needed to take their corporatist agenda to new heights. They waved the flag, struck up the brass band and filled the radio and TV air with the "patriotic" music of war. All of that was really a smokescreen for what was going on behind the closed doors of the political/corporate complex.
For the purposes of this article, I'm not going to focus on the Bush administration's numerous incursions on the constitution and civil liberties. Similarly, I'm not going to discuss the wars in Iraq/Afghanistan because we all know that the number of U.S. casualties in "the war on terror" exceed the original 9/11 casualties. We also know that properly channeled, the spending on that war could have offset our current economic problems. I am going to focus on the rapid and massive implementation of the Republican party's pro corporate agenda under the Bush administration.
The worst example of Bush's anything goes, pro-corporate agenda was that the financial sector was allowed to trick people into taking out sub-prime and secondary mortgages. Bush and his vociferous financial advisers knew that the economy was already in the tank, but made public statements praising rising home prices as an indicator that our economy was doing just fine. Manufacturing jobs were outsourced overseas, middle class wages were stagnant and in many cases not keeping up with inflation, but home prices were skyrocketing. To give the illusion of prosperity, Bush's people encouraged everyone to run up a tab, even if that meant taking out a secondary mortgage on your home to buy the trappings your former middle class lifestyle. What the heck, even if you are no longer middle class, Bush wanted to make you think that you are. While middle class America was running up a tab, Bush was running up America's tab with his wartime spending and tax cuts for the rich.
The Bush administration's legacy to future generations of Americans is a diminished American dream and a nonexistent middle class. The Republicans are trying to hand off the blame for Bush's eight year fiasco to President Obama. That's like blaming a body and fender man because he can't make a car that was totaled in a crash look like new.
Next: Part Five, Republicans: You Hurt Us, But Let's Be Friends!
Examining the actual role of the Democratic Party In post Reagan America.
In the eight years that George W. Bush was in office, he enjoyed almost unlimited power. The media gave him a pass and did little to criticize him. George got an immunity idol because he was a wartime President. He would take the idol out and put it on display every time he uttered his magic number 9/11 in a speech. He knew that once he said 9/11, all criticism would cease, men would take off their hats, women would cry and children would salute their wise and brave President.
The only catch was that 9/11 and it's subsequent wars cost many families their loved ones.
Being a wartime President gave Bush and the Republican Party the momentum they needed to take their corporatist agenda to new heights. They waved the flag, struck up the brass band and filled the radio and TV air with the "patriotic" music of war. All of that was really a smokescreen for what was going on behind the closed doors of the political/corporate complex.
For the purposes of this article, I'm not going to focus on the Bush administration's numerous incursions on the constitution and civil liberties. Similarly, I'm not going to discuss the wars in Iraq/Afghanistan because we all know that the number of U.S. casualties in "the war on terror" exceed the original 9/11 casualties. We also know that properly channeled, the spending on that war could have offset our current economic problems. I am going to focus on the rapid and massive implementation of the Republican party's pro corporate agenda under the Bush administration.
The worst example of Bush's anything goes, pro-corporate agenda was that the financial sector was allowed to trick people into taking out sub-prime and secondary mortgages. Bush and his vociferous financial advisers knew that the economy was already in the tank, but made public statements praising rising home prices as an indicator that our economy was doing just fine. Manufacturing jobs were outsourced overseas, middle class wages were stagnant and in many cases not keeping up with inflation, but home prices were skyrocketing. To give the illusion of prosperity, Bush's people encouraged everyone to run up a tab, even if that meant taking out a secondary mortgage on your home to buy the trappings your former middle class lifestyle. What the heck, even if you are no longer middle class, Bush wanted to make you think that you are. While middle class America was running up a tab, Bush was running up America's tab with his wartime spending and tax cuts for the rich.
The Bush administration's legacy to future generations of Americans is a diminished American dream and a nonexistent middle class. The Republicans are trying to hand off the blame for Bush's eight year fiasco to President Obama. That's like blaming a body and fender man because he can't make a car that was totaled in a crash look like new.
Next: Part Five, Republicans: You Hurt Us, But Let's Be Friends!