Why does Obama keep doing the things he blames Bush for?
There’s one big reason Barack Obama is getting nowhere by blaming his predecessor for all that ails us today, and it’s not because Americans have short memories. No, it’s because we have long memories — long enough to recognize Obama has been doing many of the very same things he and his supporters on the left criticize George W. Bush for doing.
The pattern has been obvious for some time, but the latest examples came with yesterday’s news that Obama was claiming executive privilege to withhold certain documents from a House investigation of the “Fast and Furious” gun-running scandal.
In that 2009-10 operation, federal agents allowed about 2,000 firearms to be smuggled into Mexico. But rather than tracking down the recipients in drug cartels, the feds lost track of them — until, that is, the weapons showed up on murder scenes. The guns have been connected to the deaths of scores of Mexican citizens and a border patrol agent, Brian Terry.
Not only did then-Sen. Obama slam Bush in 2007 for “try[ing] to hide behind executive privilege” to keep information under wraps when there was “something a little shaky that’s taking place.” (That case involved no deaths, just the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, whose service at the pleasure of the president was evident when Bill Clinton fired all 93 of them upon taking office in 1993.)
But, what’s more, documents the Obama administration has released indicate Fast and Furious was similar to a smaller operation federal agents tried in 2006-07. They ended it after realizing their gun-tracking methods didn’t work. The Obama administration didn’t just ignore those bad results; it quadrupled-down on the bad blueprint.
If that reminds you of our national debt problems, join the club.
Once upon a time — call it July 3, 2008 — Obama said it was “irresponsible” and “unpatriotic” for a president to add “$4 trillion [in debt] all by his lonesome.”
Maybe he found Bush’s profligacy irresponsible and unpatriotic because it took him eight years to accomplish, whereas Obama has pulled it off in just three (not counting the 2009 fiscal year that covered the first eight months of his presidency and included the first part of his “stimulus” and hundreds of billions in other spending he OK’d).
Of course, Obama blamed Bush’s large deficits in part on “tax cuts for the rich.” Then he extended those same tax cuts in 2010 as the economy was recovering from a recession, which was also the situation when Bush signed the cuts in 2001.
Then there was the “off the books” war spending. Obama moved the war spending on the books, all right. Now Obama requests the money not via supplemental budgets, but through the regular budgets Harry Reid’s Senate has ignored the past three years.
And defense spending is, by the way, more than it was even during the final Bush years.
Maybe that’s because Obama kept the Bush timeline for withdrawing our soldiers from Iraq. After trying to negotiate an extension to keep them there longer. Just as Bush had.
And maybe it’s because he ordered a troop “surge” in tribally fractured Afghanistan. The same kind of surge he said wouldn’t work in ethnically fractured Iraq. Which Bush ordered.
Even comparatively smaller things get the blame-but-copy-Bush treatment.
Lose billions of taxpayer dollars on job-creation “investments” at private alternative-energy firms such as Solyndra? Tell Congress you were just making loans under a Bush-era program.
Workers from the General Services Administration blow $840,000 on a lavish Las Vegas conference? Answer that the trend started under the previous administration.
Blame, copy, repeat.
In fact, Google returns more than 5.6 million results for “Obama blames Bush.” I didn’t have time to check whether the president followed his predecessor’s lead in each instance.
The ship of state may turn only slowly, but three and a half years is time enough for a president to plot his own course. It’s long enough to stop doing things he describes as mistakes by the old regime.
If he hasn’t stopped repeating mistakes by now, it tells us something about his judgment, competence or both.
The last three and a half years might not quite amount to “Bush’s third term.” But they have repeated the worst of Bush’s years in a way that offers no confidence for another go-round.
– By Kyle Wingfield
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
236 comments Add your comment
I demand to see Cheesy Grits Birth Certificate- Long Form Please
June 21st, 2012
10:58 am
Reagan actually had success in turning around a bad economy
There is a big disconnect between the real Reagan and the fantasy world one of Republican minds.
They aren’t even the same guy.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
June 21st, 2012
11:01 am
pointless witch hunts that cost tax payers millions?
Ok, Cheese Brain, why don’t they release the documents and we can all have a big ole roll on the floor laugh at Issa’s expense. You know Issa is up for reelection too, so maybe they could get him beat for wasting all these taxpayer dollars. But no, they are not going to do that because…………..
If you Dems would use the logic that God gave everyone, you could figure this scandal out.
md
June 21st, 2012
11:01 am
“good excuse. works for bush too just say 9/11″
Hmmm……missed the point……what exactly has all this spending accomplished? Unemployment is still stagnant, debt is still going up, and the economy as a whole is coming to a screeching halt. Think the money was used wisely?
I don’t…………
Active on Bookman's blog because I don't go into immature name calling rants like a child
June 21st, 2012
11:02 am
Tiberiuis
But but but
I didn’t say a word about Obama, BUT nice try
As for your claim about Reagan not increasing the debt but only by a little bit, as you say “you are entitled to your opinion, but not your facts”
“Your point, Little one?”
You think you run this blog with your faux alpha personality. It is pretty damn funny to say the least
And why did Bookman boot you? Oh you couldn’t conduct a conversation in an adult manner. You typical BS is shown here on a regular basis with those you disagree with, just paired down a bit so Wingfeild doesn’t do the same
You are who you are, “little one”
tiredofIT
June 21st, 2012
11:04 am
md: “I still find it amazing that some folks don’t realize that had people actually paid for what they borrowed the collapse would never had happened. ” You mean like AIG.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
June 21st, 2012
11:05 am
You are driving a 4 year old car, probably a Gov Motors, that breaks down every time you try to go somewhere.
LOL, Rafe, so Romney will come in and wave the magic wand and the economy will be all fixed? That’s what your new car analogy implies.
Come on, you can’t expect us to all be that stupid.
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
June 21st, 2012
11:06 am
Let’s see, Finn.
Shall we go to his tax policies, which lowered the tax rates for individuals by changing the way programs were paid for through the use of fess (as in making the people who used the services pay for them), rather than soaking everyone even if they didn’t use the service.
How about health care, where he and the Democrat leadership crafted a bill that was a public / private insurer partnership, which, while not perfect, enjoys the support of about 80% of all Massachusetts residents, and works within the Constitutional framework of the state and nation.
Let’s not forget unemployment, which went from about 6.5% when he began to about 4.5% (that number which just about every economist claims is virtual full employment, btw).
Schools were, and remain, well above the national average in performance.
He submitted balanced budgets every year as governor, even though they were adjusted upward by the veto-proof Democrat legislature, resulting in higher spending and deficits.
Enough success for you, Finn? Of course not, but you’ve never let facts get in the way of a good whine, now have you?
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
June 21st, 2012
11:06 am
the economy as a whole is coming to a screeching halt.
Tell that to all the swing states where Romney is asking the governor’s to quit talking about how well their states are improving. LOL
Active on Bookman's blog because I don't go into immature name calling rants like a child
June 21st, 2012
11:07 am
Finn
We just need a few more tax cuts and less regs and the world economy will be booming, which will create consumer demand and Ryan’s budget proposal which will need 2.5% unemployment to be feasible will be obtained
Did they stop sending you the memos?
md
June 21st, 2012
11:07 am
“Government makes the engine possible. Without laws, property rights, courts, security (internal and external), transportation system, telephony system, etc., the engine collapses.”
And there in lies the fallacy……eveything the “gov’t” does can be and usually is done by the private sector……roads?, built by the private sector……ports? built by the private sector…..etc, etc, etc
Just about everything the gov’t does can be done by the private sector…….
You have it backwards……..the private sector CAN function and exist without the public sector, but the gov’t CAN NOT exist with that private engine (in a capitalistic system).
Society uses gov’t to make some things easier, but don’t mistake that for meaning it is a necessity…..
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
June 21st, 2012
11:08 am
“so Romney will come in and wave the magic wand and the economy will be all fixed?”
No, but he’ll actually try something that works.
Oblama
June 21st, 2012
11:08 am
Because Obama is our 1st “Reality Show” President and he’s the extremely naive puppet of Nanny Pelosi and the far left agenda to form a socialist big brother government. Now he is withholding evidence under “executive privilege” through the aid of that old Clinton aider and abetter Eric Holder. Avoid impeachment – vote in someone with a clue and a plan to turn this economy around.
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
June 21st, 2012
11:10 am
“There is a big disconnect between the real Reagan and the fantasy world one of Republican minds.”
So according to Cheesy Grits, and ignoring all other facts, the economy actually didn’t improve during Reagan’s term . . .
Even hard-core Democrats don’t believe that rewriting of history, Cheesy.
Active on Bookman's blog because I don't go into immature name calling rants like a child
June 21st, 2012
11:11 am
“No, but he’ll actually try something that works”
And that will be?
Working with Congress to decrease spending? Hope you didn’t miss his recent comments on spending while the economy is not doing well. And if the European and Asian economies stay in a funk, it will not matter if it is Obama or Romney…..
Oblama
June 21st, 2012
11:12 am
Obama has contracted the King Roy Syndrome. Symptoms are arrogance, ignoring laws on the books, and stiff arming Congress to achieve his agenda. The only way to cure the King Roy Syndrome is to vote the offender out.
Active on Bookman's blog because I don't go into immature name calling rants like a child
June 21st, 2012
11:12 am
Ti
The economy didn improve, however you seem to sidestepping your own assertion bout the debt under Reagan
For someone who prides themselves on call out others for their lack of facts or just something you disagree with, one would think you could back up your claim……… right?
Active on Bookman's blog because I don't go into immature name calling rants like a child
June 21st, 2012
11:13 am
“did improve”
joe
June 21st, 2012
11:13 am
Cause he’s a freakin clueless idiot…thats why!
md
June 21st, 2012
11:14 am
“You mean like AIG.”
AIG was an “effect”, not a cause…….had folks not defaulted, there would be no bad securities or the need to insure bad securities…………
Oblama
June 21st, 2012
11:15 am
Obama is all about blaming the “other side” and not accepting blame. Check his voting record in Congress and what he’s pushed while being President. Big Government socialist spending programs…… he’s never seen one he didn’t like or vote for. Obama is a big government socialist.
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
June 21st, 2012
11:15 am
“As for your claim about Reagan not increasing the debt but only by a little bit”
Little one, I didn’t make that claim, so you are again in error. I merely stated that your “Reagan tripled the debt” comment was incorrect, and it was. For your edification, a lower number does not constitute “a little bit”; it merely provides a correction to your disinformation campaign.
I also provided context for you to show that Reagan’s spending policies, while excessive, actually were successful in their stated goal.
That you can’t acknowledge historical fact is not my problem, little one, but yours.
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
June 21st, 2012
11:17 am
“And that will be?
Working with Congress to decrease spending?”
Hopefully, as that is the biggest obstacle this world faces if we cannot control our spending.
Active on Bookman's blog because I don't go into immature name calling rants like a child
June 21st, 2012
11:17 am
md
Please see the derivative market………… That was malfeasance on the part of those who were involved in terms of the loan bundling and selling them over and over as if prices would never come down…….
Not down playing individuals lack of responsibility to pay their loans, but you are naive to think that the derivative part of this game was not in the billions and not a significant factor in this whole mess
Lil' Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
June 21st, 2012
11:18 am
Finn, weren’t you the genius who said the CIA had bin Laden in it’s sights a year before 9/11 but couldn’t act because Our President Bush didn’t budget the money? Even though Clinton was president a year before 9/11?
Haven’t heard much on that talking point lately. Let’s dig into that a bit.
md
June 21st, 2012
11:18 am
“Tell that to all the swing states where Romney is asking the governor’s to quit talking about how well their states are improving. LOL”
I shouldn’t have to tell you the difference, but the “economy” incudes all 50 states…..some doing much better than others……..it’s the sucky ones that are bring us all down……such as that liberal spending bastion out on the left coast……..
Tell me Finn……since GA has a balanced budget amendment and has to suffer the pain every year in balancing their budget, are you in favor of bailing out CA so they can pay for their immigration policies and liberal pension policies??
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
June 21st, 2012
11:18 am
No, but he’ll actually try something that works
Ohoh! Answer a magic wand question with a magic wand answer!
That’s conservative debating for those of you watching at home.
Active on Bookman's blog because I don't go into immature name calling rants like a child
June 21st, 2012
11:19 am
Debt did triple, the fact “that you can’t acknowledge that is not my problem, but yours”
But nice spin
Keep up the great work
“little one”
Oblama
June 21st, 2012
11:20 am
EVOLVING. The thought is frightening. Do we want to give Obama four more years to EVOLVE or do want a true leader that doesn’t stick his finger up in the air to test the political winds and “evolve” whenever it benefits him politically?
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
June 21st, 2012
11:21 am
that liberal spending bastion out on the left coast
Funny thing is, the spending bastions are also the bastions of income and they all lean blue – CA, NY, IL. So, md, you want those states to be there to bail out the little contributors but you don’t want them to bail out themselves? Is that it?
By the way, where does GA rank in the contribution to the United States – the money that is used to keep this bog ole ship going?
Lil' Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
June 21st, 2012
11:22 am
Obozo needs four more years of “flexibility” so he can give away our missile defense and implement his other un-American, liberal fascist schemes.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
June 21st, 2012
11:23 am
No, but he’ll actually try something that works
And when does Romney get around to telling us what that is? October?
Active on Bookman's blog because I don't go into immature name calling rants like a child
June 21st, 2012
11:23 am
Ti
don’t get too immature as you have demonstrated in the past. You might be over at Galloway’s before long
I’m out
md
June 21st, 2012
11:24 am
“Please see the derivative market………… That was malfeasance on the part of those who were involved in terms of the loan bundling and selling them over and over as if prices would never come down…….”
Once again, an effect not a cause………without bad borrowers, there can not be bad derivatives……
Oblama
June 21st, 2012
11:26 am
Actually Clinton was in office and decided to not pull the trigger on Osama though the CIA gave evidence indicating Osama was at that location. Clinton canceled the mission considering it to politically risky. It had nothing to do with lack of funding. Oddly enough Eric Holder withheld evidence to cover for Clinton and now he is doing the same for Obama. Eric Holder needs to be tried for treason.
md
June 21st, 2012
11:28 am
“Funny thing is, the spending bastions are also the bastions of income and they all lean blue – CA, NY, IL.”
May want to look up the word “net”…….I’d prefer to lose their “income” if in turn we get to lose their “debt”………..
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
June 21st, 2012
11:28 am
“Debt did triple”
Actually, it did not. More like 2.5 times, but not triple. But don’t let facts get in your way, little one.
Ellen
June 21st, 2012
11:29 am
K-MOM said : Tiberius and Ellen,
This may seem a bit simplistic to you all, but I don’t know who is responsible for the death of Mr. Terry! –Sometimes things work, sometimes they don’t. I believe the people that sign up for such missions know the risk and accept them for benefit of the many. ————–
K-Mom, for one, do you feel special calling him ‘Mr Terry’ ? how about US Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry ! In case you’re not aware, this man died a hero, protecting your ‘lack of respect attitude’ A***!!
and as far as signing up for missions and know the risks ? What does that have to do with anything? so , we should be like ” oh well…”…..the risks don’t contain being murdered because your government set you up to be gunned down !! And if anything else, the responsible party (our government) owes Agent Terry’s family an explanation ! Obama hiding behind is powers to keep the details in these documents hidden are not only showing his guilt, but also his inability to take responsibility for a country he knows nothing about running !
Oblama
June 21st, 2012
11:29 am
Obama is working with Congress to reduce spending and the Fed debt? You should be a stand up comic. He’s working with Congress to increase spending and the Fed debt and he’s collecting overtime.
Dusty
June 21st, 2012
11:30 am
At last! Kyle has gotten so disgusted with liberal politics he has realized a scorched earth policy is the only way to go. So he burned ‘em good!
At this moment, we Americans have an incompetent president and a “cover-up” attorney general. Kyle knows it and so do we.
Not only do we hope for change, we demand one legally. Americans will vote away incompetence.
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
June 21st, 2012
11:30 am
“And when does Romney get around to telling us what that is?”
I suggest you Google “Romney 59 point economic plan”, Finn. Of course, then you’d actually have to READ it, and since there’s not a lot of pictures and it isn’t in crayon, you might not understand it . . .
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
June 21st, 2012
11:32 am
I’ll post this link to counteract md’s feeling of victimization by them big ole blue states:
so-called “blue states” tend to be high-income areas that pay the vast majority of federal taxes. Some 84 percent of federal individual income taxes—which account for over 40 percent of federal revenue—are paid by the those in the top 25 percent of the income distribution. The majority of these taxpayers live in wealthy, urban, politically “blue” areas like New York, California, and Massachusetts.
Even if federal spending were equal in all states, wealthy states would still send substantially more federal tax dollars to Washington than they received in spending, simply because they earn a majority of the nation’s income.
http://taxfoundation.org/blog/why-do-some-states-feast-federal-spending-not-others
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
June 21st, 2012
11:34 am
Thanks, Tib, I’ll borrow a Prezidenchil crayon from W.
md
June 21st, 2012
11:38 am
California -. to gov’t $247,967, from gov’t $232,387 budget shortfall 25B.
You do the math……….
Active on Bookman's blog because I don't go into immature name calling rants like a child
June 21st, 2012
11:40 am
Lets see 900 billion in debt when took office. 2.8T when left office and that equals not only 2.5 times but was only a “little bit”. Factor in GDP……….
“But don’t let FACTS”, get in the way of you diatribe
but, but, but Obama
Active on Bookman's blog because I don't go into immature name calling rants like a child
June 21st, 2012
11:42 am
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_by_U.S._presidential_terms
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
June 21st, 2012
11:44 am
Red-State Moochers: Federal Taxes Favor Those Who Complain the Most About Federal Taxes.
Living in a state that gets more federal money than it gives in federal taxes is a powerful political factor in influencing voting for a Republican for President.
DailyKos
Dusty
June 21st, 2012
11:44 am
Could we wander away from the subject just a little? The insults are down to the kindergarten level.
The BRAVES won last night against the formidable Yankees. There! Good news!
MrLiberty
June 21st, 2012
11:45 am
The real question will be whether or not the republicans at the GOP convention will realize that Romney will continue ALL of Obamas policies in the way Obama continued all of Bush’s.
Hopefully they will realize that he is NOT the candidate they should nominate and will do the right thing. Of course Goldman Sachs and the Rothchilds will be upset, but America might be better off for such a decision.
ND
June 21st, 2012
11:46 am
Obama does many of the same things as Bush because there is no substantive difference between the political parties when it comes to things like expansion of government and selling their souls to Wall Street and the military industrial complex. They instead choose to differentiate themselves over relatively unimportant issues like gay marriage. Given the choice between someone like Obama who may, once in a blue moon, do something sensible like refusing to deport high achieving Hispanic teenagers who were brought here as children, and someone like Romney who won’t even try to do anything sensible, I’ll vote for four more years.
Ellen
June 21st, 2012
11:47 am
And just reported, Sec of commerce John Bryson has retired (saying it’s because of health issues)….yeah, well, that’s as good excuse as any to get the heck out of there before all H-e-ll breaks lose!! Obama’s losing his posse, one by one !