Understand that Sarah Palin, a true fiscal conservative, never defended the Bush spending policies. In fact, she has been critical of that reality while, at the same time, indicating her respect for our 43rd president. It is a fact that Bush vetoed just one spending bill during his eight year term. But, it is equally the case, that he saw many of the critical issues of the present recession and tried to correct those problems, but was opposed, even demonized, by the Leftist/Socialists who have taken over the Democrat Party.
I have lost my patience with the Democrat/Obama lie that he, Obama, “inherited” the mess we are in. While Democrats are not the lone cause of the problem, they certainly share in the blame, and, I think, the majority of the blame.
For certain, George Bush did not act alone, but, without question he saw many of the problems we are facing today, and was opposed by the Democrats.
Before advancing my opinion, I want to remind the reader of 9/11 and the loss of the world’s financial center . . . . . . . I say again, “the world’s financial center.” Democrats act as if that did not have an influence, a crippling influence, over our economy. Also, there is the fact of 52 consecutive quarters of [GDP] growth during Bush’s administration, the longest such streak in American history --- including the Clinton years.
The anti-American Democrat leadership’s (not all Dems are anti-American btw) claim that “capitalism does not work,” is a stupid lie, one that demands the rewrite of 20 years of legislative history and the pardon of Democrat involvement.
In an article found in Investor's Business Daily's, America's Second Wake-Up Call! , we have this timeline relating to Bush’s efforts to deal with the eventual cause of the current recession. Understand that the Dems opposed him at every turn, including Obama beginning in 2006.
From Investor’s Business Daily:
April 2001: The Bush administration's fiscal budget stated that the size of Fannie and Freddie was "potential problem because financial trouble of a large Government-Sponsored Enterprise could cause repercussions in financial markets, affecting federally insured entities and economic activity."
May 2002: The Office of Management and Budget wanted disclosure and governance principles in Bush's 10-point plan for corporate responsibility to apply to Fannie and Freddie.
February 2003: A federal housing oversight report warned that unexpected problems at Fannie Mae could immediately spread into financial sectors.
September 2003: Treasury Secretary John Snow recommended that Congress enact legislation to create new agency to regulate and supervise financial activities of housing-related government entities to set prudent and appropriate minimum capital requirements. Rep. Frank, the committee's ranking member, strongly disagreed, saying: "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not facing any kind of financial crisis . . . . The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we'll see in terms of affordable housing."
From 2004 to 2008 the Bush administration made 12 more attempts to get Congress to pass legislation to have safer, sounder regulatory oversight of Fannie and Freddie and capital rules.
February 2004: Greg Mankiw, chairman of Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, cautioned Congress against taking the strength of financial markets for granted.
April 2004: Rep. Frank ignored warnings, accusing the administration of creating an "artificial issue." "People pay their mortgages," he told a group of mortgage bankers. "I don't think we are in any remote danger here.
July 2005: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid rejected legislation on reforming Fannie and Freddie. ". . . . we cannot pass legislation that would limit Americans from owning homes and harm our economy in the process," he said.
August 2007: Sen. Dodd, another Democrat, ignored President Bush's emphatic calls for Congress to pass Fannie and Freddie reform legislation and called for him to immediately reconsider his ill-advised position.