Will it sway your vote to one party or another to know where to lay the blame? Unlikely, as bad economic decisions (both Democrat and Republican) throughout the last 45 years are to blame.
Look to Lyndon B. Johnson (Democrat; President from 1963-1968) - for the end of silver coinage and removal of the silver cover for much of the currency. Surprisingly, also a fast-rising Democrat (much like Obama), who also created such future headaches with his domestic program (termed “the Great Society”, with Congress passing the Medicare program, which provided health services to the elderly, approving federal aid to elementary and secondary education, supplementing the War on Poverty, and creating the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It also passed another important civil rights law–the Voting Rights Act of 1965…and yet during his term, we had racial riots and he escalated the Vietnam War.
Look to Republican Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974) for the breaking of the final link between the dollar and gold. Also responsible for secret bombings of Cambodia, the end of the Vietnam War with discraceful treatment of Vietnam Veterans, as well as the widespread array of illegal and secret activities undertaken by Nixon or his aides which culminated in came to be termed the Watergate Scandal.
Gold acted as a brake on monetary expansion. Loose monetaryexpansion policy by the federal government intesified starting in 1971.
As you can see, both parties contributed to this mess - and it was not just the recent flamboyancy of the lax home-lending policies encouraged by the federal policy (sub-prime mortagage situation), but poor decisions by BOTH lenders AND borrowers and no little deceipt dealt out by all.
Question: So who is to blame? Answer: The loose federal policies, those who enacted and supported them, as well as borrowers, lenders, realtors, and investors buying prime and sub-prime investment packages to turn a buck.
So what to do? Exercise prudence my friends by knowing what you are signing, knowing what your representatives and senators are supporting, and by knowing why and how you are voting. Investigate the candidates, what they stand for, and use common-sense. Is what is being promised something that can be delivered? Vote for the more realistic candidate, not the one who is promising the world, and will be able to deliver next-to-nothing. Voter - review the voter’s creed @ http://presidential-race.net/the-voters-creed/.
We need correct fundamentals before the country can build and expand to levels of prosperity. If you build on what is broke with fancy plans, you will continue to create more and larger problems. Change? Quick fix? No - correct what is broken by going back to the basics.
