re: #432 LudwigVanQuixote

The economy is better now than it was in GOP hands. If the Dems had been announcing this clearly all along, they would own this issue.

The numbers and the facts are:

GOP spends more than Dems for the last 60 years.

The bailout is working.

Bailouts take time to work.

GOP business as usual led to the crisis.

Further the economy is linked to other larger things. The GOP keeps us dependent on fossil fuels. Switching off of oil would create millions of jobs and keep hundreds of billions of dollars in America rather than flowing to other nations that hate us.

The Dems should own this issue, but as usual, they fail utterly to stand up.

Neither party would have acted on the Real Estate Bubble till it burst. The Dems would have ignored it for the same reason as the GOP: Closing the bar when the party is lively is an unpopular thing to do and parties want short-term popularity.

Moreover, the Dems helped set the table by pushing for low-income lending, thus causing the increase in sub-prime mortgages. When John McCain tried to slow down such lending and better regulate it, his plans were called racist.

And lastly; Yes, the TARP bailout did work. But the stimulus bill that followed did not work nearly well enough to justify itself.

The Democrats can make the argument you just made Ludwig, but the Republicans have plenty to come back with.