Here are some questions that I am posing to the group: Does Obama get to kick that can down the road for as long as he is in office? Will there ever be a time when the mess is his mess? If he keeps mucking up the recovery, either through more onerous government intrusions and regulations and less actual help to the true growth engines (the private sector) and all his efforts fall short, does he merit any responsibility at all? Does Obama get to “test drive” our economy for as long as he is in office, or, is there ever a time when he owns it?

I wonder these things because I still hear apologists still blaming Bush for all of America’s ills.

I think we have established beyond all reasonable doubt that the last president erred in a number of his policies, OK, that is out of the way, but soon or later, we have to look forward and resist the urge to drive viewing only out of the rear view mirror.

We have talked about this before, how in one short year, this president has gone to the well of blame to compensate for his own inadequacies more than the last half a dozen presidents combined, and if we did not have facts that contradict this tact, it might work, for a while.

Now I know some people can’t tell the difference between 450 billion and 1.75 trillion (both are large numbers, I agree) but as a comparison, they are hardly comparable.

We can all agree that Bush owns TARP, (signed on by a Democratic run congress, so they are somewhat complicit but the president is the man). but the lion’s share of these bank loans have either been paid back entirely or in the process, with both capital and interest going back into the people’s coffers. so, some could say that it was a good deal, for everyone involved.

And the country had the same attitude with The Stimulus Bill, if it improves the economy and gets folks back to work, yes it is a lot of money that will balloon the deficit, but they were willing to give the president a chance. But not satisfied with letting it stand on its own merits, Obama tracks its failure back to what the last guy did.

We know what John Adams said about facts

image

As much as some would like to still place this fact back on Bush, it does not make it any more palatable.

The one thing us Californians know, pointing fingers solves nothing. We are already doing a “Thelma And Louise” off the cliff. The nation is not in as bad a shape, but it will get there in a hurry as long as people are willing to give this administration a pass on everything it does, and not hold their feet to the fire.

Watching Obama stew himself provides no one with schadenfreude, we really are all in this together.