Ray From Cleveland
Diamond Member
- Aug 16, 2015
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The spending started when Bush took over and passed the huge tax cut along with all the spending bills. The housing crash made the recession into "the great recession", but the economy was headed for a crash as the debt load was too large and interest rates were rising.Wait, are you trying to argue that the great recession was because the Dems took over the House??OK point, but the president sets the agenda. Bush and Trump had their agenda of massive spending and massive tax cuts and the republican congress is more than happy to oblige. Clinton had an agenda of a balanced budget and spending cuts which was also embraced by the republican congress.I've seen many conservatives criticize spending including myself. As for Presidents, they don't spend the money--Congress does.
Clinton presided under a Republican Congress most of his two terms. Bush did too until people voted in Piglosi and the Democrats to take charge. DumBama quite the same, most of his years presided over a Republican Congress. Trump? The first two years.
However congressional leadership does not always have the power people think it does. You still need opposition help to pass most spending bills. Unlike Democrats who are all one of the same, the Republican party is fractured between conservatism and the establishment. GW Bush was part of the establishment. He was not a conservative.
Even if you have unity among the congressional party leadership, you still have the President and Senate to consider. Congress can come up with anything they want, but unless they appease the Senate leadership, it's meaningless.
So it's much more complicated than X is President and spending was X.
In the end I am wondering why all these conservatives thought Bush was so great (until he crashed the economy) and why they think Trump is so great even though he has spent so recklessly.
Well we haven't had an economy like this in many years, so he is kinda getting a pass. However to reiterate, I do see complaints about spending coming from the right side on this forum. And again, very few if any conservatives ever considered Bush one of their own.
What has to be remembered is Bush was in charge during the worst attack on US soil in history. The economy was not that strong before 911 either. He not only had to address that disaster, but also pay attention so the terrorist attack didn't have major impacts on our economy.
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Looking at this chart, you don't even have to look at the years to see when Republicans had control of Congress, the impact of 911, and the recession of 2008 when Democrats regained control of the House. The Democrats regained leadership of the House in 2007, and look what happened. The Republicans took back leadership in 2011 and remains so until January of next year.
Not really, but the spending was on their watch. The housing crash is what caused that recession, and even though Bush was in charge, there were many a Democrat fingerprint on that one.
Then maybe you better look at that chart one more time. Bush took over in 2001, and lasted until Jan of 2009. However the Democrat Congress took over in Jan 2007.