It seems to me that today's economic environment in the United States has all the characteristics of a zombie. It isn't dead, but it isn't alive either. It is flatlining. And it is likely to stay that way for awhile.
Much the same can be said about Democrats. It is election time again and they always restore to life the same old dead strategy - everything wrong with the world was caused by Republicans. Revising history is again front and center in this year's political campaigns. With the usual assistance from the self-righteous psychopaths of the mainstream mass media, Democrats from the president on down blame the current economic doldrums on George Bush and the Republicans.
Certainly the Republicans deserve a good portion of the blame. When they controlled Congress they forgot why they were elected and spent too much money the government didn't have. That was undeniably contemptible and they deserved to have their butts kicked in 2006. But anyone who thought Democrats would spend less or reduce the size of government will have to plead temporary insanity.
Regardless, lets review the primary reasons the economy is in the commode.
1. Why did the economy roll over into a recession?
Answer - Because of the collapse of the financial markets and resultant disappearance of bank lending.
2. Why did the financial markets collapse?
Answer - The mortgage market grew out of control stimulated by the Democrats support of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and their political mandate to give home mortgages to people who couldn't possibly repay.
3. Who tried to impose restraint on Fannie and Freddie?
Answer - The Republicans in Congress, primarily with the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2006, Senate Bill 190 sponsored by Charles Hagel, John McCain, Elizabeth Dole and John Sununu - all Republicans. The Democrats in the Senate unanimously rejected it. Many other attempts were made by Republicans, including George W. Bush, to draw attention to and restrain the out of control mortgage lending of the quasi-federal agencies, but the Democrats continually blocked any action.
4. What was the result of the unrestrained explosion of high risk mortgage lending?
Answer - Massive growth of toxic subprime mortgages, prompting Wall Street to do its thing, which was to package these toxic loans into high risk securities to sell to pension funds and other investors. From there they developed highly leveraged derivatives of these securities to trade among themselves along with credit default swaps to play both sides of the trade, all resulting in unprecedented risk and inevitable implosion.
The current economic environment was manufactured in Washington by Democrats and escalated exponentially by Wall Street, whose big players support both sides of the political spectrum. And both Washington and Wall Street were bailed out. In fact, the Democrats in Washington even had the audacity to name the Financial Reform Bill of 2010 after the two biggest contributors to the debacle, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd.
Every political party or ideological movement has its share of crackpots, morons, corrupt sleazeballs and arrogant, insufferable assholes. It is just that the Democrats have more than their share. More hypocrites, too. It is interesting that so many of those so-called liberals (or socialists, progressives, Democrats, whatever) in positions of power who advocate equality of outcomes through government programs are already part of the affluent elite who have no intention whatsoever of giving anything up themselves.
