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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alighieri who wrote (528603)	11/13/2009 10:05:36 AM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1574798

Again, bush was handed a budget in virtual balance and an economy in decent shape and he still managed to double the national debt and leave office with the nation in near state of collapse. Let's be fair here ok? Hard to even remember how optimistic we all were at the end of the Clinton administration. So much has changed.

To: Alighieri who wrote (528603)	11/13/2009 10:33:15 AM
From: Bill	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574798

I agree with half of that. Bush was handed a somewhat balanced budget -- and he and his republican congress managed it recklessly and irresponsibly. But the economy was headed to recession, if not already there, when he took over. And 9-11 caused additional fiscal pressures that Bush had little control over.

To: Alighieri who wrote (528603)	11/13/2009 3:37:15 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1574798

The consensus was that a stimulus was required... The majority opinion perhaps, but far from a consensus.

To: Alighieri who wrote (528603)	11/13/2009 7:42:03 PM
From: Joe NYC	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574798

Sure, but let's not forget the near panicked condition of the economy when he took over. The consensus was that a stimulus was required... I am not 100% against it (well, maybe 60%). The problem was the way it was done. It was done as a pay-off to Democrat interest groups. The best solution would have been to temporarily suspend payroll taxes (FICA). While it would have been an anti-thesis of Obama / Pelosi plan, in that it would be neutral, rather than targetted to their supporters / donors, its impact would have been immediate. It would have helped not only workers, but many businesses that would not have closed otherwise, laying off their workers. Again, bush was handed a budget in virtual balance and an economy in decent shape and he still managed to double the national debt and leave office with the nation in near state of collapse. Let's be fair here ok? Of course, I am not very happy about the budged deficit under Bush, the deficits and spending were within historical peace time norm, even though we were involved in 2 wars. The current deficit and government spending as percentage of GDP is at levels not seen since WWII: The difference between then and now is that the survival of free world was at stake then, and at one point, it was going to be over. Right now, nothing as existential is at stake, and Obama is going to make things even worse in the future, with his health "reform"