American political parties are bankrupt. By this I mean that there are few differences between Democrats and Republicans. This is not a new opinion of mine. Take a look at the party in power and the one out of power and they almost always behave the same way depending upon their current predicament.
During the George W. Bush administration the Republicans had control of both houses of Congress for six of the eight years. The result was over spending and a lack of focus on the future impact of the laws they passed or did not pass. Earmarked pork projects were perfectly acceptable. It was the very things that Republicans accused Democrats of doing. Another good example was Richard Nixon imposing price controls in the early 1970s. The idea was one that has been promoted many times by Democrats. It was an effort to control inflation. Once those controls were removed inflation roared into life and would be one of the factors that resulted in Jimmy Carter becoming a one term president.
Now it’s the Barack Obama administration with a Democratic Congress in control and this administration behaves in the same manner. The Democratic Congress wants to pass legislation that takes our nation even deeper into debt with no plan on how the nation will solve its long term economic issues. The Bush administration rushed TARP, Troubled Assets Relief Program (the bank rescue plan); through Congress without adequate consideration and now Obama wants to do the same thing in reviving the economy.
The minority party always takes the opposite view of the majority even when the majority is correct. Where are the new ideas that will make our nation succeed? They are not likely to come from the same old crowd that has been part of the political parties for decades. Barack Obama was correct stating that we need change. He just has not provided any of it. At the end of the first 100 days and later at the end of the first 1000 days I predict that it will still be politics as usual.
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