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Using blame to condemn blame
To the editor:
After reading George Michael’s column, “Obama’s Blame Game” on July 14, I was amused by how he supported his premise with the very thing he is accusing the president of.
He blames the Democratic Party for everything that has gone wrong with the economy for the last decade, even those that happened under President Bush’s watch.
Michael fails to support his argument that the Bush tax cuts are great, and are not at least part of the blame for the weak economy. These tax cuts did not expire when the Democrats controlled Congress and have since been renewed. If his argument is to be believed — that these cuts led to economic prosperity after the 9/11 attacks — then why did we see the collapse in 2008 and the slow recovery to date with these tax cuts still in place?
He also states that this is the slowest recovery post WWII, but does not mention that the top 1 percent are paying the lowest taxes since the 1950s. So maybe there is a correlation between the two.
Michael also fails to mention that most of the recovery and the lowering of unemployment numbers after 9/11 was due to increased government spending to defense contractors and increased military recruitment for the buildup of going to war with Iraq and Afghanistan. Both of these wars, while giving an initial boost to the economy early on, now have led to the high deficits we are seeing
And let us not forget the two rounds of stimulus checks that Bush issued when we could not afford them.
Lastly, Michael falls back on the right wing talking point of how the Democrats caused the housing collapse — even though George Bush’s administration constantly put pressure on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, and pressured lenders to loan money to prop up the weak economy.
Michael can believe what he wants, but in 2007 the wars were off the books and not accounted for, but now they are. Add to that the collapse of the banks, Wall Street, housing market and the car companies, all under Bush’s watch, and you see the disaster that the current president has been trying to get us out of.
Alan Phillips
Hagerstown