Responsibility
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
The other day a letter was written stating how it was time for President Obama to take responsibility. I agree he should. Right after Republicans claim responsibility for two wars that have sacrificed American lives and billions of dollars for very little security. And while they are at it maybe they can take responsibility for eight years of deficit spending (Medicare plan D) and irresponsible tax cuts that have put us at the mercy of communist China. Then they can take responsibility for ramming down legislation (Patriot Act) that watered down our freedoms while not making us any safer. And finally they can admit that they allowed President Bush and Vice President Cheney to violate the constitution by exceeding the powers of the executive. I can see why the right-wing Tea Party patriots would like to forget the last eight years and how they would like to pretend that they didn't happen. But I'm sorry. They did. And we are now paying for it.
It's like those Republicans (Rudy Giuliani, Dana Perino, and Mary Matalin) who show up on news stations and proclaimed that there was not a single terrorist attack on America while George Bush was president. Meanwhile 9/11, the shoe bomber and the anthrax letters, all deemed acts of terror, happened on President Bush's watch. But the Republicans and the Tea Party are in denial. Where was the outrage when the so called conservatives ran our economy into the ground? Where were the rallies when President Bush signed the largest bank bailout in American history or when he weakened our civil liberties? It's convenient that each Republican debacle was met by the Tea Party with silence.
What President Obama needs to take responsibility for is wasting a whole year on his continued attempts to reach out to a party that has done nothing but work against him every step of the way. Leading economists called for a stimulus package. So the president tried to get one passed in a bi-partisan fashion. To the point that it was so watered down that it was barely a stimulus package at all. And even with all the compromises, President Obama did not get a single Republican vote. The package passed and then Republicans stood up in front of their constituents and took credit for the stimulus dollars that were coming to their districts even though they voted against it.
Unfortunately, President Obama didn't learn his lesson. Instead of "hammering" legislation through like Bush did, he tried to get healthcare done in a bi-partisan way. But by now the Republican Party had become nothing more than the party of distortion, distraction, untruths and denial. The Tea Party patriots were eating it up, storming town halls, and shouting down their opponents to end any civil debate.
I can understand the frustration Republicans are feeling. I would be frustrated, too, if I had to hear how they almost destroyed our economy. But I'm sorry. It happened and denying it won't make history disappear.
Robert Betances
Warsaw, via e-mail[[In-content Ad]]
The other day a letter was written stating how it was time for President Obama to take responsibility. I agree he should. Right after Republicans claim responsibility for two wars that have sacrificed American lives and billions of dollars for very little security. And while they are at it maybe they can take responsibility for eight years of deficit spending (Medicare plan D) and irresponsible tax cuts that have put us at the mercy of communist China. Then they can take responsibility for ramming down legislation (Patriot Act) that watered down our freedoms while not making us any safer. And finally they can admit that they allowed President Bush and Vice President Cheney to violate the constitution by exceeding the powers of the executive. I can see why the right-wing Tea Party patriots would like to forget the last eight years and how they would like to pretend that they didn't happen. But I'm sorry. They did. And we are now paying for it.
It's like those Republicans (Rudy Giuliani, Dana Perino, and Mary Matalin) who show up on news stations and proclaimed that there was not a single terrorist attack on America while George Bush was president. Meanwhile 9/11, the shoe bomber and the anthrax letters, all deemed acts of terror, happened on President Bush's watch. But the Republicans and the Tea Party are in denial. Where was the outrage when the so called conservatives ran our economy into the ground? Where were the rallies when President Bush signed the largest bank bailout in American history or when he weakened our civil liberties? It's convenient that each Republican debacle was met by the Tea Party with silence.
What President Obama needs to take responsibility for is wasting a whole year on his continued attempts to reach out to a party that has done nothing but work against him every step of the way. Leading economists called for a stimulus package. So the president tried to get one passed in a bi-partisan fashion. To the point that it was so watered down that it was barely a stimulus package at all. And even with all the compromises, President Obama did not get a single Republican vote. The package passed and then Republicans stood up in front of their constituents and took credit for the stimulus dollars that were coming to their districts even though they voted against it.
Unfortunately, President Obama didn't learn his lesson. Instead of "hammering" legislation through like Bush did, he tried to get healthcare done in a bi-partisan way. But by now the Republican Party had become nothing more than the party of distortion, distraction, untruths and denial. The Tea Party patriots were eating it up, storming town halls, and shouting down their opponents to end any civil debate.
I can understand the frustration Republicans are feeling. I would be frustrated, too, if I had to hear how they almost destroyed our economy. But I'm sorry. It happened and denying it won't make history disappear.
Robert Betances
Warsaw, via e-mail[[In-content Ad]]
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