by Paul Schingle

Created on: March 03, 2009

I love it that the conservative faction is all-of-a-sudden concerned with "pork" and the spending of America's money. Yes, we are in a financial crisis that's the worst we've seen in at least two generations. But, what is the cause of the financial crisis? During the eight years of neo-conservative George W. Bush leadership, the federal debt more than doubled. The annual budget deficit increased year-after-year. Lack of regulation in the banking, mortgage and securities industries directly led to our current economic crisis. The Republicans didn't seem to mind bailing out the banking and insurance industries. But, the stimulus package supported by president Obama is somehow "going crazy" with America's money. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't we have a year-by-year budget surplus under Clinton? (Don't get me wrong-I underrstand that the overall national debt still existed under Clinton, but at least then we were servicing the debt.) The fact is, the Republicans are hypocrites.

Under Bush, our number one spending priority was funding the war in Iraq at an estimated ten billion dollars per month. The reason for this? Well, it was all those weapons of mass destruction they had. (Oops, they didn't have any). Well, then, it was Iraq's ties to the 9-11 bombings. (Oops, turns out they had nothing to do with 9-11). Well, Saddam Hussein was a bad guy. (True that, but if we want to get rid of all the bad guys, why aren't we in the Darfur region of Sudan? Why don't we do something about the leadership in Saudi Arabia? That's right, we're in bed with Saudi Arabia). The truth is, there is still no rational reason for our invasion of Iraq. Meanwhile, Bush gutted programs, such as LIHEAP, which would have directly assisted low income families here in America. And, the Democrats are the bad guys?

Now it's true that some of the deregulation of the banking and other financial industries actually began under Clinton. (And, you'll never find me as a hard-core Clinton apologist). But, once the Republicans seized the White House and both houses of congress, deregulation became the mantra. Bad mortgges became all the rage. Less-than-reputable lenders hoodwinked poor borrowers (and, yes, I blame the borrowers as well) into taking out loans thery couldn't afford, then sold them off in bulk to more reputable firms. Everyone saw dollar signs in front of them and we're all paying the price right now.

Now, president Obama's stimulus package may or may not work. Only time will tell. But,

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