George W. Bush

[The Black Knight]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBHZY7CieVk
(No Easy Way Out)

Love him or Hate him, he's had a rough 8 years. I've not always agreed with Bush, however I felt he stepped up to the plate during a tough time in our nation's history and did what he felt was right. Regardless of what the detractors said.

And for that he'll always have my respect....

[Clovis]

+1!

The 2000 election was my first (I was 19) and I voted for Bush and again in 2004.

I haven't been overall happy with his presidency but his leadership was ultimately what America needed during these difficult times. Despite the odds against him (namely the liberal media near constant negative coverage of him and liberal congress which can seemly do no wrong in their eyes despite their glaring mistakes and misjudgements).

The economy was largely fine until 2006 when the people "demanded change" and elected a democratic majority to congress. The liberals, guiding by their "do what feels good, not what's actually right" pushed and pushed for deregulation of the mortgage industry to provide home loans to minority buyers and those overall unqualified due to their financial decessions and behaviors.

The liberals believed they were helping the little people by giving them the ability to own a home, however when these loans began to default, coupled with a slowing housing market, spikes in energy cost and other economic slow downs it created a snow ball situation. The banks, mortgage lenders and brokers were blamed for the callapse, siting greed and predatory lending and while instances of this did occur in some parts of the county (California being among the hardest hit) it ultimately was a result of unqualified borrowers being approved for loans they would not have been approved for under the old regulations in place prior to the democratic rise to power.

During the course of the election the democrats fought harder and spinned better to place the blame squarely on the republicans when in realitity it was their poor decessions that brought us to this point. The reality is most people do not really know how government and politics work and will associate the top guy (the president) as the cause of the good and the bad because "he's in charge". This ignorance of the government was supurbly capitalized by the democratic regime to blame the president and thereby McCain which ultimately lead to their victory.

Now with that said, while I'm unhappy with the outcome of the elections I will still pledge my support to president-elect Obama because he is our president and I love my country.

Unlike the liberals who bitched and moaned over the 2000/2004 elections and proclaimed that Bush was "not their president" and vowed to fight him on everything throughout his administration, the vast majority of republicans and conservatives have done as I have; pledged their support to our new president and continuing to making America a better place.

While I am worried about a democraticly controlled congress and whitehouse, basically tossing checks and balances out the window, I do hope I'm wrong and that Obama will turn out to be the messiah so many seem to believe he is but time will tell.

-Clovis

[Canuck]

The economy was largely fine until 2006 when the people "demanded change" and elected a democratic majority to congress. The liberals, guiding by their "do what feels good, not what's actually right" pushed and pushed for deregulation of the mortgage industry to provide home loans to minority buyers and those overall unqualified due to their financial decessions and behaviors.

You need to review your facts.

The liberals believed they were helping the little people by giving them the ability to own a home, however when these loans began to default, coupled with a slowing housing market, spikes in energy cost and other economic slow downs it created a snow ball situation. The banks, mortgage lenders and brokers were blamed for the callapse, siting greed and predatory lending and while instances of this did occur in some parts of the county (California being among the hardest hit) it ultimately was a result of unqualified borrowers being approved for loans they would not have been approved for under the old regulations in place prior to the democratic rise to power.

Lenders are at fault as much as the borrowers. Though the deregulation is a direct cause of Sen. Grahams efforts, with Greenspan and Followers of Regan-omics.

During the course of the election the democrats fought harder and spinned better to place the blame squarely on the republicans when in realitity it was their poor decessions that brought us to this point. The reality is most people do not really know how government and politics work and will associate the top guy (the president) as the cause of the good and the bad because "he's in charge". This ignorance of the government was supurbly capitalized by the democratic regime to blame the president and thereby McCain which ultimately lead to their victory.

Our money system is not what we have been led to believe. The creation of money has been "privatized," or taken over by a private money cartel. Except for coins, all of our money is now created as loans advanced by private banking institutions — including the private Federal Reserve. Banks create the principal but not the interest to service their loans. To find the interest, new loans must continually be taken out, expanding the money supply, inflating prices — and robbing you of the value of your money.

Not only is virtually the entire money supply created privately by banks, but a mere handful of very big banks is responsible for a massive investment scheme known as "derivatives," which now tallies in at hundreds of trillions of dollars. The banking system has been contrived so that these big banks always get bailed out by the taxpayers from their risky ventures, but the scheme has reached its mathematical limits. There isn't enough money in the entire global economy to bail out the banks from a massive derivatives default today. When the investors realize that the "insurance" against catastrophe that they have purchased in the form of derivatives is worthless, they are liable to jump ship and bring the whole shaky edifice crashing down.* Ellen Hodgson Brown, J.D.


Study more Economics before confusing your 'opinion' with the facts. And quit drinking the Kool-Aid of the Neo-Cons.

Keynesian study should be your friend in the future.

[Cars-R-Coffins]

Watch the video titled Money as Debt when you have some free time. It's disheartening to say the least.

[Mother Goose]

Study more Economics before confusing your 'opinion' with the facts. And quite drinking the Kool-Aid of the Neo-Cons.

Keynesian study should be your friend in the future.

And spelling should be yours.

[Nick_Ninja]

I hope the guy takes the sward.

[DavidofColorado]

+1!

The 2000 election was my first (I was 19) and I voted for Bush and again in 2004.

Check your facts... he stole the election. Stole it fair and square.

I haven't been overall happy with his presidency but his leadership was ultimately what America needed during these difficult times. Despite the odds against him (namely the liberal media near constant negative coverage of him and liberal congress which can seemly do no wrong in their eyes despite their glaring mistakes and misjudgements).

Liberal media is his friend compared to self appointed truth nazi's on the interweb.

The economy was largely fine until 2006 when the people "demanded change" and elected a democratic majority to congress. The liberals, guiding by their "do what feels good, not what's actually right" pushed and pushed for deregulation of the mortgage industry to provide home loans to minority buyers and those overall unqualified due to their financial decessions and behaviors.

Here is a video that you should watch. I remember this snowball rolling a lot earlier than 2006 when the housing market collapsed. It started in 1995 with Clinton promising housing for every American.
Clicky

The liberals believed they were helping the little people by giving them the ability to own a home, however when these loans began to default, coupled with a slowing housing market, spikes in energy cost and other economic slow downs it created a snow ball situation. The banks, mortgage lenders and brokers were blamed for the callapse, siting greed and predatory lending and while instances of this did occur in some parts of the county (California being among the hardest hit) it ultimately was a result of unqualified borrowers being approved for loans they would not have been approved for under the old regulations in place prior to the democratic rise to power.

It was a very good plan to take over the world if they wanted to. That still may happen? I don't think they spent all the time and money on bumper stickers, the media and everything else to brainwash people in order to help the poor and those without health insurance. Seems to noble for liberals.

The rest was good but I snipped it because I didn't have anything to add.

And FTW. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KFncihQRp4&NR=1

[MAZIN]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBHZY7CieVk
(No Easy Way Out)

Love him or Hate him, he's had a rough 8 years. I've not always agreed with Bush, however I felt he stepped up to the plate during a tough time in our nation's history and did what he felt was right. Regardless of what the detractors said.

And for that he'll always have my respect....

+1000
Just as our nation has elected its 44th president that was not my choice. I will stand by him just like I have stood by past Presidents before, vote for him or not he is our President elect (btw that was the best part of obama's speech).

[Canuck]

And spelling should be yours.

[Slacker]

Yo Adrian...

Sorry had a Rocky flashback

[Sortarican]

Having lived through every president since LBJ it's been my experience that the various histories tends to paint a presidency
with either rose colored glasses or with pitchforks and torches.
I'm sure Bush's legacy will have plenty of detractors and praisers for years to come,
with the truth probably coming in somewhere between the two extremes.

In regards to other points posted:
The housing/credit bubble goes all the way back not just to the Regan years, but to the Ford/Carter eras
when we were trying to resolve our last big recession.
Much like the zero tollerance for forest fires, the Fed has been run with a zero tollerence for recesion/inflation/economic downturns.
The result is very much the same. Yellowstone and the housing bubble.

Deregulation and outright fraud can be laid on the doorstep of both parties, big business, the Fed,
and squarely on the shoulders of the American populace for suckling on the credit teat for decades.

One other thing I'm forced to concede:
Conservatives that are pledging cooperation and hopes for the Obama administration to succeed
are going to deserve as much credit as anyone if our problems can be resolved.
I have to admit, although I would have been supportive of McCain had he won, many of you are being more gracious and patriotic
than I was the last 8 years.
Those who just want to keep repeating Obama's middle name and prophesying biblical calamity are of no use to anyone...
including themselves.

[MetaLord 9]

Well and eloquently said Jeff. There were many decisions made throughout George W. Bush's Presidency with which I stoutly disagreed. However, I still feel confident in my voting choices over the past eight years. I'd also like to think that you're enough of a man not to yield the high ground, no matter the victor of Tuesday's election.

[TheStig]

The economy was largely fine until 2006 when the people "demanded change" and elected a democratic majority to congress. The liberals, guiding by their "do what feels good, not what's actually right" pushed and pushed for deregulation of the mortgage industry to provide home loans to minority buyers and those overall unqualified due to their financial decessions and behaviors.

The liberals believed they were helping the little people by giving them the ability to own a home, however when these loans began to default, coupled with a slowing housing market, spikes in energy cost and other economic slow downs it created a snow ball situation. The banks, mortgage lenders and brokers were blamed for the callapse, siting greed and predatory lending and while instances of this did occur in some parts of the county (California being among the hardest hit) it ultimately was a result of unqualified borrowers being approved for loans they would not have been approved for under the old regulations in place prior to the democratic rise to power.

Justin you know I love ya bud but I have to disagree with a lot of that. Just look at my situation when I came to you for help for getting out of our ARM. We were first time home buyers and while I will say we could have done more research, we were led to believe that the ARM we were in was our only option. This as I look back on it was simply the best way for the broker to make money. He knew it was a gamble to be on an arm but knew we were easy targets. We were led to think he was the best person to get information from and instead he did what made him the most money. I regret not doing some more research, but I thought I was by confiding in him. We didnt get an ARM to buy the biggest house we could find, we did it because we were told it was our only viable option. I have to believe there were a lot of people in the same situation as us. I will agree that there were greedy buyers out there but couple that with a lot of the banks "practices" and you have the collapse we see today.

[Bueller]

Worst president ever!

[MetaLord 9]

Ulysses S. Grant, Herbert Hoover, and Jimmy Carter might take exception to that statement, Bueller.

[Nick_Ninja]

Worst president ever!

[mastap07]

it coulda been so much worse while he was president. it is what it is and every president will always be criticized on any and every decision whether its the right one or not. its a very hard position to be in but i thank him for what he has done and for keeping the real problems such as war out of our home.

[Bueller]

Ulysses S. Grant, Herbert Hoover, and Jimmy Carter might take exception to that statement, Bueller.

Ever
Irreparable damage

He is the single biggest reason your party lost this election
So in effect he is the reason Obama is President elect.

[puckstr]

Fuck W.

The idiot President needs to be shown the door...and how to use it.

Oh and his secret service protection is ONLY for 10 years.
http://www.ustreas.gov/usss/protection_works.shtml

"All current former presidents are entitled to lifetime Secret Service protection. However, as a result of legislation enacted in 1997, President George W. Bush will be the first president to have his protection limited to 10 years after he leaves office."

Baaaaaaaaa Haaaaa Haaaaaa Haa

[Snowman]

There has to be a substantial amount of the blame for the economy placed on mortgage lenders and the banks behind them.

Yes, the Clinton Administration pushed for the idea that everyone should be able to own a home. In addition, the Bush Administration allowed the deregulation to make it happen. Both Administrations where bought and paid for however, neither thought it would be taken advantage of to this level.

In 2001 when I bought my condominium, I wanted to put down 20,000 on the 100,000 price with a 30 year fixed. I told my realtor that I would not even consider anything else for a mortgage.

Every time I talked with her after that, she would mention the lower rates for an ARM. I got phone calls from the mortgage broker about how variable rate loans were safe and how I could always lock in the low rate by refinancing. Then there was a meeting with the broker, two other loan agents and my realtor in the banker’s office. The conversation went on for 30 minutes on other loan options, all of which where ARMs.

My wife worked in the industry at the time and knew what was going on. These people were out to make any loan they could no matter what they had to do it. They would lie on applications and other paper work, pay off home adjusters to get values of homes increased. Whatever it took to get these loans approved. An once the papers were signed their would be bankers in the next room waiting to buy that loan, everyone would get their commission and move on to the next one.

These people got rich. Now the things they did have caught with them. And because they are politically connected the first thing they did was to protect their investments by calling in favors they had paid for from our government.

These bankers, mortgage brokers are the ones you played this game and are the ones who are at most fault because they got greedy.

[DanFZ1]

Hardly definitive but worth the read.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle5038047.ece

U.S. Presidents ranked top to bottom. Spoiler: Honest Abe wins. JFK didn't quite make the top ten.

George W. Bush and Dick Chenney should have been impeached when Bruce Fein, (a Republican who drew up the impeachment process against Slick Willy for lying to Congress about blow jobs in the oval office), first raised the issue.

http://www.slate.com/id/2169292/pagenum/all/

Yes, it's a link to the devils own website, Slate Magazine. The article however, is written by Bruce Fein.

Who is Bruce Fein:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Fein

"Bruce Fein is a lawyer in the United States who specializes in constitutional and international law. He received his degree in law from Harvard Law School in 1972.

Under President Ronald Reagan, Fein served as an associate deputy attorney general from 1981 to 1982 and as general counsel to the Federal Communications Commission. In 1987, he served as the minority (minority party) research director of the committee in the United States House of Representatives that investigated the Iran-Contra Affair."

The book, should you decide to break a $20, is called:

Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy


Editorial Reviews

A renowned attorney and political critic, Bruce Fein reveals the dangers faced by our Constitution and our nation courtesy of the Bush Administration and a Congress asleep at the switch. In blistering detail, he deconstructs the policies of Bush in the War on Terror--from the flouting of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to the crippling of the Great Writ of habeas corpus--and forecasts that the damage he's done is unlikely to be repaired by a kindhearted successor.
As we head toward the next national election, there are questions regarding matters more grave than education, healthcare, and even Iraq, questions that involve the very foundations of our government and the degrees to which they have been undermined, either actively or passively, by nearly everyone in power today. By exploring the constitutional crises of the past--Lincoln and habeas corpus through to Nixon and Watergate--Fein is able to begin to answer those questions and to discern a practical and rational way out of the current morass