It's the BushCheneyRoveLimbaugh Economy, Stupid

It's funny--yet not really funny at all--how the current economic crisis suddenly exploded into public view just a few short weeks before the end of the Bush-Cheney-Rove-Limbaugh Administration. And lawmakers were given something like one week to come up with massive amounts of bailout cash, or else the American and world economies would all swirl down the tube like a flushed toilet.

Conspiracy theorists might postulate that Republican insiders were frantically trying to keep the meltdown hidden until BushCheneyRoveLimbaugh made it out of office, so the economy then would implode just after President Barack Obama was inaugurated. And Democrats would get all of the blame for the collapse just as they tried to put forth their agenda of change and help for the downtrodden middle class and poor.

Anyway, it all blew up on the GOP's watch, and the elephant boys now are feeling the wrath from people all over America and the world while they frantically try to deflect the criticism toward President Obama--and make it "his" economy.


“Never underestimate the capacity of angry populism in times of economic stress,” Robert Reich, a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and labor secretary under President Bill Clinton, recently told the New York Times. “A big challenge for President Obama will be to maintain a rational and tactical public discussion in the midst of this severe downturn. The desire for culprits at times like this is strong.”

The blame needs to stay squarely on the true culprits: the "free market" Republicans who pushed financial regulation almost completely out of the economy and let crooks, pirates and others driven by greed take over and rip us off while steering corporations, funds and worker benefits straight into the ground.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney recently has said "Don't blame us for this mess." He was just trying--very unsuccessfully--to steer the spotlight away from the economic sins of the past eight years, during which he helped advise and preside.

It's still not Barack Obama's economy--not yet. We're still trying to cope with the financial horrors of the BushCheneyRoveLimbaugh economy. And we will continue trying to cope with them for many months to come, until the Obama Administration's frantic flurry of emergency measures finally starts turning things around.

So, yes, do blame the free-market, anti-regulation Republicans for this current mess. Keep the spotlights squarely focused on BushCheneyRoveLimbaugh--and make them keep paying the electric bills for the illumination, as well.

For a long while, it seemed that the messes in Iraq and Afghanistan would be their main--and dubious--legacy. But those are small potatoes now, compared with the huge pile of burnt hash browns the GOP and their free-market cronies have made out of the American and global economies.

Once a recovery starts to take hold, remember who refused to help and cooperate in our nation's time of peril: the House Republicans and their incessant "No!" votes against the Obama Administration's proposals; and most (but not all) of the Senate Republicans, who keep clinging to the failed policies that nearly sent us into the Great Depression of 2009.

Oh, and especially the real head of the Republican Party: Rush "I Hope Obama Fails" Limbaugh.

--Si Dunn

John McCain: Open Mouth, Insert Foot

By Si Dunn

According to the Associated Press, Arizona Republican John McCain believes Democrat Barack Obama has no right to criticize McCain's position on military scholarships because the Illinois senator did not serve in uniform.

"And I will not accept from Senator Obama, who did not feel it was his responsibility to serve our country in uniform, any lectures on my regard for those who did," McCain said in a statement issued May 22.

McCain lashed out at Obama's personal history despite Obama's repeated praise of McCain's military service, the Associated Press reported.

An Opposing View
Barack Obama has every right to criticize John McCain on this issue. Our nation is shortchanging recently returned veterans at almost every turn, while giving away and throwing away countless billions of borrowed dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the same time, President Bush and John McCain are claiming that current legislative proposals for a new GI Bill would be too expensive for America.

Speaking of “too expensive,” returning veterans are coming home expecting to be able to go to college with their promised benefits, only to find that their vouchers barely will cover a fraction of the costs they will face.

Thousands upon thousands of men and women enlisted on the promise--the guarantee--of a college education after service. So where is it? Currently tied up and hamstrung by misplaced political priorities and unbelievably massive financial waste.

No, Barack Obama did not fly a jet and spend years in North Vietnamese captivity. And yes, John McCain fought honorably in two conflicts—Vietnam and his battle for personal survival in the infamous Hanoi Hilton. But Sen. McCain seems to be forgetting exactly why he was fighting. Didn’t it have something to do--at least vaguely--with preserving democracy and protecting the rights of people--including Senators from opposing parties--to speak freely?

Personal Experience
The GI Bill gave me just enough money to go to college after I served out my enlistment in the Navy and came home from the Tonkin Gulf. Yes, I had to work some part-time jobs, and yes, I sometimes had little more than a few Cokes and a loaf of bread to live on while waiting for the next check. But the money, when carefully managed, was at least enough to pay tuition, to buy books, and to eat. Part-time jobs covered rent, clothing and inevitable extras. Without the GI Bill, I could never have earned a degree and worked at good-paying jobs.

Bottom line: Those few thousand dollars of assistance I received from the Vietnam-era GI Bill have been returned to the U.S. Treasury many times over as tax payments during my 40-plus years of employment.

Not giving today’s veterans enough money to have an equal chance at college is not just unfair. It is politically and socially immoral.

John McCain should be deeply ashamed of his opposition to more funding for American veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. He, of all people, should be acutely aware of how much they have sacrificed-—and are still sacrificing--for our country.

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