Sheldon, You are rigt on with this Blog.
What a shame that those that saw it coming did nothing to change the direction. I can't forgive Grennspan for allowing the hedge stock companies from being formed. Wall Street finally hit Main Street and here we are. The Housing market is a wreck, the credit market is a wreck and the auto market is soon to be a wreck. What can be done to turn this around? Pity the next president, whoever it is......

You are too kind.. We had no terrorist acts on our soil after 9/11 in spite of that idiot Bush, not because of him.. If he could have found a way to make it profitable for his cronies it would have happened...

sheesh you guys are SO depressing. snap out of it!!!!!!

Most people who do not recognize the importance of history or the overall knowledge of what occured in the financial markets will blame the Bush administration. However, the beginnings of these colosal failures began in the Carter administration with the beginnings o deregulation and the repeal of legislation that was passed in 1933 that regulated banks by limiting the types of investments they were allowed to make. The rest is additional history that includes both democrats in the Clinton administration and republicans in the congress. However, you feel about Bush he tried to regulate Fannie and Freddie back as early as 2003, it was voted down in congress. The present financial administrator for Barack Obama is Franklin Raines, who was found guilty of irregularities when he was head of Fannie and Freddie. So be careful what you wish for if you haven't studied your history. It will repeat itself and you financial wizards who continued to indicate to your investors that the bull was going to continue to rage should not look at Bush for the economic failures of present day. There is a reason why the hearings in the senate regarding the finanacial crisis have been put off until after the election. You will find Barnie FRank should be hung by the neck until blue in the face. Have a good day, hope you get better at understanding the financial economy of the U.S.

George Bush was a great Governor in Texas, and his legacy as one who kept this state solvent carries on with Governor Perry. Texas does not have an "economic crisis," and most people here think the big hoopla in the media is a farce. We still buy new cars, build and buy houses, and shop at the same stores we always did.
We have a Republican Governor, and the state Senate and House are controlled by Republicans. I see that as the key to our state success!

I bet you could have done better if you ever tried to instead of writing about things that already happened and opinons a donkey could make!

Thank you for sharing useful information.There is a reason why the hearings in the senate regarding the finanacial crisis have been put off until after the election. You will find Barnie FRank...

Just consider this: The ENTIRE war against Iraq was projected to costs $60 BILLION . . . and todate it has cost the USA approximately a TRILLION DOLLARS (that they will admit to).

Bush presidency and his phony "economic BOOM" has cost the American tax payer $700 BILLION to date; and may cost double, triple or even more than that by the time our national economic crisis is addressed.

So, in essence, and quite literally, Bush's presidency is minimally going to cost our nation $2 TRILLION . . . that is a helluva a lot more than any "damage" that the terrorists have been able to inflict on our nation. George Bush has been our "worst 'terrorist'" within our nation. The man has plunged the USA into economic chaos, while his elitist corporate special interests have bled our contry economically.

Bush's "misguided 'patriotism" is meaningless if it has substantially undermined our nation economically and socially.

Bush did nothing valuable in Texas during his short tenure.

Bush like Palin, or vice versa, served in oil rich states that can subsidize many expenditures and relative failings.

GSG
I agree with with you.
I do fear the real storm,
when it hits.
End game. Not too far.
Have you read "devolution now" by Paquette?
The Ben Franklin quote so well nails what you note, I hope you saw it.

Before Bush, we did NOT have terrorist attacks like 9/11 on American soil. And how convenient that it happened in the beginning of his first term? Can't help but think that he might be somewhat responsible for all that is happening to us.

Lou,

You give Bush too much credit. The extremist storm was brewing long before Bush even thought about politics. Bin Ladin was plotting for two decades. It began with resentment about non-Saudies being permitted on Saudi soil and what he felt was the desecration of Islam. He also has much personal resentment against his own family that is deeply involved in international construction and less focused on Islam than he feels is required. He needed a cause and he found it. He needed a big bad enemy to gain support for his cause and he found that in us.

Lifelong Republican here--- the picture started to fall apart for me when Cheney asked, as justification for going into Iraq, if we as a country would ever follow through with our threats..... as though we should be ashamed of not using force if force was not justified.
Well, I'm ashamed of the mess my country and my tax dollars has made of Iraq, for NO good reason.
Out with them, good riddance, the worst president ever, shame on THEM.

Its still hard to comprend how his approval rating is 27 percent.How can 27 percent of the people still support an idiot like Bush. Bush and is inner circle have run this country and economy into the ground and i dont envy the next President who will try to clean up their mess

TO: GSG: While I support the importance of the “history” behind of all this, I have to disagree with you in regard to Bush not being principally responsible (along with Congress) for this economic debacle.

As President George Bush could have certainly forced the underlying issues that have caused this economic meltdown. Deregulation may go back to Reagan and Carter, however, the critical pivotal and specific deregulation lies in the deregulation, and lack of regulation that has occurred during the Bush Administration. George Bush preferred to push the phony economic “boom” for his transient political image and to offset the debacle of the mismanaged and unwarranted war in Iraq.

Bush made statements like: “The USA can afford it all . . . the war and the economy . . .” George Bush has lied his way through almost everything during his administration. His presidency has been a progressive series of debacles that have been exploited by the elitist corporate and ultra wealthy special interests groups.

When he became President, he “inherited” the LARGEST BUDGETARY SURPLUS in American history . . . and has, with the “assistance” of Congress plunged the USA into the LARGEST DEFICIT in American history; and now into a DEEP RECESSION which may become a worldwide DEPRESSION.

The concept and philosophy of deregulation may have begun under earlier presidents; but it was the deregulation and lack of regulation under the Bush Administration that IN FACT created the current economic meltdown as a DIRECT RESULT of Bush’s first seven years of his presidency.

Mr. Harrison you have it pretty much down pat.

Sheldon, good article.
As far as Dubya, the historians will have their say. Good points and bad accompany his tenure, but the overall frequently takes years to emerge. Buchanan is always in last place, yet strangely two small actions, one on his part and the other by Pickett (of Pickett's charge fame) could have changed the entire course of our history, whereas the U.S. would be two countries - North and South.
The present debacle on economics is Bush's problem, but not one he really made. The blame on this goes really to the Senate and House finance and banking committees along with the heads of the OFHEO and the securities commission. I personally find Barney Frank as the most culpable. I tried to voice a warning and was turned away. Total arrogance in a public servant is unacceptable. We need change and I hope it comes today. Whoever comes to the West wing will inherit problems - much more than economic. Many parts of this world are in armed conflict, there are droughts and radicals abound. Overall it is not very rosy. Osama & co I wonder about as they tend to remind me of those from which we derive the word assassin. So, is he something new or something old? Hard to tell, but if it is really the latter, his reasons are far beyond religious.

Will L,
I agree with you about all of the DEAF DUMB & BLIND (non)Oversite commitees including Misters Frank and Dodd and Cox at the SEC.

And thanks to all of you for taking the time to comment and share your thoughts.

my Capitol One credit card interest soared to 29.5% Do you think Bush will bail me out?

Bush was a simple man who came to power with a simple agenda, however times were far too complex for his rudimentary knowledge of world affairs and extreme ideological leanings. The people he represented wanted three things from him. A. A ban on gay marriage, B. A ban on abortion, and C. The deportation of all illegal immigrants. They were fixated on Monica's little blue dress and never envisioned the complexities that the world contains. These people took solace in the selection of Sarah Palin as VP. The fact that she didn't have a passport until 2007 gave them comfort. She was like them and they are like many of bin Laden's extremist followers unwilling to turn towards the light of human progress. Listening to a few interviews on the radio and television this morning I'm struck by the number of people who refuse to accept Obama's victory. They're like the Taliban who run around the countryside destroying statues that give voice to any type of differing opinion. Make no mistake, America is a conservative country that occasionally flirts with liberalism. If John McCain had chosen Mit Romney as his running mate he may have been president this morning. At this point a recession and higher taxes would be a blessing considering what may be looming on the horizon. I hope that President Obama is able to draw strength from the number of different points of view which must reside inside of him. He is a complex man, the type the world needs at this juncture.

Aloha President Obama.

Beltway Greg