Ressesion was caused by Democrates like usual.

I appreciate liberal analysis of the past several years in Washington. Unfortunately, it's both one-sided and short-sighted.

Many of you blame Bush's use of 'division' and 'fear' to get elected and push 'disastrous policies', please keep in mind that, when Bush took office, he was fighting back a recession caused by the previous administration's foolish government backing of loans for internet start-ups. Billions of dollars and millions of people were invested in the 'dot bombs' of the late '90's. Those 'tax cuts' for the wealthy were BADLY misnamed. They were not. They were tax cuts for people willing to invest. That, by the way, was the FIRST round of tax cuts. The SECOND round of tax cuts reduced EVERYONE'S taxes. Both sets of cuts are due to be reversed at the end of this year. Those tax cuts, as well as the first 'rebate' kept this country from falling into a true recession.

Once 9/11/01 occured, America found itself teetering on another recession. Once again, taxes were cut, rebates were issued, incentives were given for Americans to invest in America, and we avoided another full recession. Therefore, it's hardly a fair statement that Bush's financial policies were poor. His policies prevented 2 recessions.

Does that make Bush perfect? Certainly not. Was he flawless? Hardly. Did he make mistakes? Of course he did. Are we paying the price of some of those mistakes today? Yes. Will our grandkids be paying the price for some of those mistakes for decades to come? Regretfully, yes.

"Fiscally-irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthy while the economy is struggling?" Again, they weren't tax cuts for the wealthy, they were tax cuts for everyone. The wealthy got bigger cuts because they PAY MORE. Unfortunately, the current economic recession was caused not by something Bush did, but by something Clinton did. The Community Reinvestment Act of 1993 was a bill President Clinton signed into law during the mid 90's. It forced Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to insure sub-standard, sub-prime, low money/no money down ARM mortgage loans. While concocted by both Republicans and Democrats alike, it's been run exclusively by Democrats. While Bush should take at least part of the blame for not taking a more active role in exposing it, the lion's share of the blame falls squarely on Barney Frank and Maxine Waters, both democrat representatives, for being warned several times to stop it, but choosing not to. The current recession is a result of that bill not being repealed, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac being too exposed and too many families allowed to buy a house who couldn't afford to. They were foreclosed on, the banks went to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who couldn't insure all the banks in time. Banks failed, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac didn't get their government money quickly enough. Insurance companies who invested in banks and mortgage companies took a major hit... and the rest is (very current) history.

Now, for the true history lesson. This nation flourished the most when companies were de-regulated (meaning the government stayed out of their business unless the businesses did something illegal). The nation, as a whole, was the benefactor of Americans being allowed the opportunity to be as successful as they wanted to be. As corporations became more powerful, our government saw an opportunity to gain some of that power and money as well. The biggest culprit was none other than President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who used a recession similiar to this one to make a major power grab. Unfortunately, that power grab turned a recession into a decade long depression. From the late '20's through today, our government has taken more and more control of the private sector, continued raising taxes, and grown in power.

That leaves us where we are today. We now have the extreme left proclaiming that 'capitalism has failed us' or 'capitalism is evil'. Unforutnately, we haven't had a truely capitalist, free-market society for almost 80 years. You blame Republicans of the recent past for spending money foolishly. You are correct. Those Republicans have since been removed from office. Now, the Democrats are spending money exponentially faster than the past 20 years combined. We are borrowing money from countries we have fundamental differences with. We're recklessly abandoning nuclear weapons at a time when rogue nations like North Korea and Iran (and therefore, by proxy, Syria, Lebanon, and groups like Hizbolah) are desperately trying to acquire them. We've dismissed long-standing allies like the UK, France, Israel, Germany and even Canada in a desperate attempt to gain acceptance from Iran and Venezuela... which has backfired miserably.

You are incorrect in your assessment of what is happening. The Republicans are attempting to put the brakes on all the foolish spending that's going on now. There's no racism here. Please don't follow the pundits (Chris Matthews, Bill Mahar, Jon Stewart, Keith Olberman, etc.) demonization of what is happening. The simple truth is; there are two ways to handle the problems that have befallen America... empower Americans to fix the problems themselves or allow a government takeover. Unfortunately, empowering Americans is problematic to our government because it means relinquishing power.

By the way, the numbers we have all heard quoted for cost savings on the health care plan... are incorrect. The CBO has yet to perform an analysis on the bill that actually passed... with its 3 addendums. Others have done their own analysis... the numbers aren't good. As well they shouldn't be. Consider social security... it's bankrupt. Consider the post office... it's bankrupt. Consider medicare... it's bankrupt. What do they have in common? All 3 are government-run.

Change is good... when it's change for the better. What we have now is change for the worse, which is bad for every skin color in this nation. There IS a way to improve healthcare, energy, and the economy, but it's by empowering Americans, not enslaving them to the government.

Put americans back to work so that they can fix the economy, just like they always have!