Where are clinton/bush's apologizies for the budget crisis?

[mrveggieman]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinio...eAM_story.html

[duane1969]

Can you say "pipe dream"?

[OnePimpTiger]

One issue I have with the article:

Here’s a fantasy of mine that might help solve the long-term budget problem. Retired presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush would tour the country together and apologize. They would apologize for not tackling Social Security and Medicare when they had the chance...

...His effort at Social Security “reform” was doomed from the start, because it included personal investment accounts that were bound to arouse ferocious opposition.

Before the typical cries that I defend everything Bush ever did, you're wrong. There is a lot I disagree with...but the economy is not one of them. Bush tried to reform SS in the best possible way, in my opinion, by *GASP* making people responsible (I know, a bad word) for their own retirement. Yeah, it met ferocious opposition because people don't want to be responsible for themselves, but that shouldn't be a knock against Bush, as he tried to reform the system in the way he thought best.

Another note: Bush also tried to reform Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, knowing that the system in place was destined for doom. That met ferocious opposition as well by Barnie Frank, Harry Reid, and their cronies. So two of the biggest issues that caused/is causing economic problems Bush tried to address. The only (possibly) valid economic knock against Bush is that he enacted tax cuts...however, tax breaks have been proven to increase federal revenues and these in particular were resulting in a drastic reduction of the deficit until the mortgage bubble busted in 2008.

I know, I know...time for SLOP: ignore the actual issue and just attack the messenger.

[pghin08]

One issue I have with the article:



Before the typical cries that I defend everything Bush ever did, you're wrong. There is a lot I disagree with...but the economy is not one of them. Bush tried to reform SS in the best possible way, in my opinion, by *GASP* making people responsible (I know, a bad word) for their own retirement. Yeah, it met ferocious opposition because people don't want to be responsible for themselves, but that shouldn't be a knock against Bush, as he tried to reform the system in the way he thought best.

Another note: Bush also tried to reform Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, knowing that the system in place was destined for doom. That met ferocious opposition as well by Barnie Frank, Harry Reid, and their cronies. So two of the biggest issues that caused/is causing economic problems Bush tried to address. The only (possibly) valid economic knock against Bush is that he enacted tax cuts...however, tax breaks have been proven to increase federal revenues and these in particular were resulting in a drastic reduction of the deficit until the mortgage bubble busted in 2008.

I know, I know...time for SLOP: ignore the actual issue and just attack the messenger.

Let me start by saying I agreed with Bush's SS plan that got shot down. I thought it was an okay idea.

However, I think the knock on Bush's tax cut were totally valid. Let's compare him to someone who Republicans worship, Ronald Reagan.

Reagan stepped into office and almost immediately slashed taxes. Shortly afterwards, he and his advisors realized that the tax cut was too steep, and then proceeded to enact a VERY serious tax hike from 1982-1984. Bush wouldn't do that, even though it was fairly clear from early on that his tax cuts were simply too high. Bush saw what happened when his father raised taxes, and didn't want it to happen to him. One of my biggest beefs with him was that he almost always did the politically correct thing, no matter what that meant.