When the Past Won’t Go Away
I watch the plane fly overhead knowing that the airlines are holding on anyway they can to survive., They cut air mile programs, charge extra baggage fees, and hawk sandwiches that used to be included in the price of a ticket. From the ground the plane looks ordinary. But get on board if you really want to witness the reality of flying today.
Like the airlines, many economists, businesses, and politicians have been telling us to stay in our places on the ground and look toward the sky with aspirations for a better future. Last week though we were led aboard by way of a Federal Reserve Report
President George W. Bush started us on this calamitous track with the luxury of his wars and tax cuts for his wealthy cohorts. His predetermined quest for war with Iraq has long ago been proven. His admiration for President Reagan’s trickle down economics, was long ago proven to be not policy, but fallacy. The nation had some warning about what would be in store under a Bush administration. We were fooled by this “compassionate conservative.” But honestly, we’re grown-ups. We’ve been lied to many times. At this point, stopping short of cynicism, we have a responsibility to question authority and sniff out their deceptions.
So let’s start with our coming up to the four year mark of recovery from Mr. Bush’s administration since he left office. If only it was history. But the saddest truth about George W. Bush is that his presidency lives on every day. The recklessness committed by him and his supporters has required his successor to use almost his entire first term to suture the wounds. But we’re still bleeding and the next presidential term will also likely be spent on recovery for a nation on its back.
It is easy to be angry at President Obama for the economic strife we are living through. But it is both arrogant and self-righteous for partisans to shift this calamity onto him alone. In fairness, the stimulus could have been bigger. The banks we bailed out should have been been compelled to refinance instead of repossess homes. The Iraq and Afghanistan wars should have ended sooner. But each of these reactions was to regain from much greater losses piled upon us by President Bush. Mr. Obama has not been, as one would say proactive, he has been reactive in this regard.
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