Twenty-one months ago, George W. Bush left office after eight years.<\/p>\n
When he stepped aside, the United States was sliding into a Code Red national emergency, with the finance sector imploding, two wars underway, a massive wave of home foreclosures cresting, and hundreds of thousands of jobs being eliminated each month.<\/p>\n
Almost immediately, Republicans began a carefully crafted and largely successful campaign to convince the media that none of the mayhem that followed was their fault.<\/p>\n
“Blame it on Bush” became a term of derision and scorn coming from conservative commentators — the clear message being that Democrats now controlled the Federal government and, by extension, owned the national crisis.<\/p>\n
Their campaign was so effective that many Americans no longer remember that some of the most unpopular elements of the bailout — including TARP and the automobile bailout — were crafted by Mr. Bush’s team.<\/p>\n
Many Republicans have even\u00a0 taken to mocking President Barack Obama for underestimating the magnitude of the financial emergency, which pushed unemployment rates into double digits.<\/p>\n
But the release last week of the GOPs Pledge to America makes it clear that we must revisit the philosophy and policies that shaped our nation for nearly a decade, from 2000 through 2006, when Republicans controlled the government.<\/p>\n
The Pledge essentially promises more of the same, which is why an honest debate is needed over the impact of years of deregulation and tax cuts which immediately preceded the crisis.<\/p>\n
The tea party movement has largely rallied around one major and laudable issue: shrinking the massive Federal deficit.<\/p>\n
Yet it is simply a matter of fact that in this document, Republicans offer no fresh ideas for reducing that red ink.<\/p>\n
Indeed, their cornerstone pledge — maintaining tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans — blows a much bigger hole in the bottom of the bucket, accelerating our rush to collective bankruptcy.<\/p>\n
This isn’t to say that Democrats are necessarily the better choice this year.<\/p>\n
It may be that we will decide collectively to give Republicans another chance to get this right — despite the flimsiness of this document.<\/p>\n
But before pulling the lever in the voting booth, we need to compare and contrast honestly and bluntly the performance of Republicans from 2000-2006 with the performance of Democrats from 2006-2010<\/p>\n
Frankly, it’s too bad that we find ourselves in this predicament.<\/p>\n
If the GOP had offered a more thought-provoking, honest, and inspirational plan — and not a document haunted by the legacy of Mr. Bush — many voters might have seen their way to an easier choice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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