Monday, September 19, 2011

Ronald Regan was elected in 1980. He immediately implemented an economic agenda that consisted of less regulation of the financial industry, tax breaks for the wealthy and massive increases in government spending. This led directly to the Mike Milken / Drexel junk bond scams, the destruction of the saving and loan industry and the stock market crash of 1987. The economy and the taxpayer paid a heavy price for these reckless policies. The US had to make good on all the CD’s issues by the S & L’s and the country had a ten year recession in the housing industry.

George W Bush was elected in 2000. He immediately implemented an economic agenda that consisted of less regulation of the financial industry, tax breaks for the wealthy and massive increases in government spending.  This led directly to the subprime housing disaster, the almost destruction of the world financial industry and the credit market meltdown of 2008. In 2008 we found out that Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Countrywide, Washington Mutual, Wachovia, and AIG to name just the larger companies were insolvent and went out of business. The country is now mired in a ten year recession (if we are lucky)

Today John Boehner and Eric Cantor are advocating an economic agenda that consisted of less regulation of the financial industry and tax breaks for the wealth. They are giving lip service to less government spending but one suspects it’s is only because they don’t have control of the entire government yet. Recent history leads to the unavoidable conclusion that neither party shows much spending discipline unless they are out of power.

Stop the madness. Is it too much to ask that an elected Representative from Ohio will care more for the workers in his home state than the hedge fund managers in the Hamptons? Apparently it is.

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