Higg's ratchet effect--did Bush create one?

[Anarchist420]

I don't think he did, but I haven't researched it enough. If and only if he did create a ratchet effect, he'd have been the 5th President to do so--after Madison, Lincoln, Wilson, and FDR.

To me, it seems like his growth of government could easily be reversed and that the next President will have much more logic in blaming Obama than Obama has in blaming Bush.

Obama may very well be the 5th President (if Bush wasn't) to create the ratchet effect in his first four years alone and it's really hypocritical of Obama to be blaming Bush for the problems we have now.

I'm no apologist for Bush--the man was a pretty piss-poor President. But the current President is going to be a lot worse, and his policies and growth of government is going to be a lot harder to reverse than compared to Bush's policies and growth of government.

What's really scary, is that if Bush did create the ratchet effect, then Obama obviously will have also, and that means that 2 consecutive Presidents outdid all the rest of them in the growth of government.

 

[nageov3t]

once you give people free bread, you can't take it away.

every Roman knows this.

 

[Patranus]

Nixon -> Carter -> Reagan
Bush -> Obama -> ???

 

[her209]

Nixon -> Carter -> Reagan
Bush -> Obama -> ???

Shouldn't that be:
Nixon -> Ford -> Carter -> Reagan

 

[nageov3t]

Nixon -> Carter -> Reagan
Bush -> Obama -> ???

so the next guy will be even worse?

fuck me.

but yeah... comparing a pretty good president like Nixon to a fuckwit like Bush makes me kind of angry.

 

[Craig234]

...the next President will have much more logic in blaming Obama than Obama has in blaming Bush.

Amazing how much one phrase by a poster can discredit them. If you don't think blaming Bush is hugely legitimate, it's the same or worse level of fallacy as 9/11 truthers and birthers.

 

[kia75]

I totally agree. Sometime in the next 2 years Obama will totally start a war. The thing about wars is once you're in them, you can't really get out, so if Obama starts a war like Bush did, then he'll really ratchet the government to monumental proportions.

And I'm pretty certain Obama's going to get rid of our privacy. Think the Patriot act. Stuff like that is hard to over-turn, Bush passed it in 2001 and it still hasn't been over-turned. If Obama does something similar, well watch out.

Then there's the huge bank bailout! Bush passed this in his last year in office, Obama has done a car bailout but that's rather small when compared to the huge gigantic amount of money Bush gave the banks in 2008! And once given out that money is hard to get back.

If Obama can do all three things then yeah, he'll totally ratchet the government in the next 2 years.

 

[her209]

Then there's the huge bank bailout! Bush passed this in his last year in office, Obama has done a car bailout but that's rather small when compared to the huge gigantic amount of money Bush gave the banks in 2008! And once given out that money is hard to get back.

Not to nitpick, but Bush bailed out the auto companies (as well) using TARP funds.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

so the first woman will be even worse?

fuck me.

but yeah... comparing a pretty good president like Nixon to a fuckwit like Bush makes me kind of angry.

Palin 2012!!!!

 

[nageov3t]

Palin 2012!!!!

"Certainly in the next 50 years we shall see a woman president, perhaps sooner than you think. A woman can and should be able to do any political job that a man can do." -Richard Nixon

:rose:

 

[werepossum]

Not to nitpick, but Bush bailed out the auto companies (as well) using TARP funds.

Not to nitpick, but TARP (designed by the Bush administration but passed by the Democrat Congress) was designed to liquidate the toxic assets. Obama changed this to taking control of the damaged companies via stock purchases, leaving the toxic assets to somehow detoxify themselves. (Like the Mafia, government is ALWAYS the senior partner.) There's a very large difference both in increasing the scope of government and in the long term affect on our economy.

 

[Jaskalas]

once you give people free bread, you can't take it away.

every Roman knows this.

Unlike Rome our people get to vote themselves more bread. Our problem is therefore much worse.

Those who'd fix it are not voted in, or swiftly voted out.

 

[Anarchist420]

I totally agree. Sometime in the next 2 years Obama will totally start a war. The thing about wars is once you're in them, you can't really get out, so if Obama starts a war like Bush did, then he'll really ratchet the government to monumental proportions.

And I'm pretty certain Obama's going to get rid of our privacy. Think the Patriot act. Stuff like that is hard to over-turn, Bush passed it in 2001 and it still hasn't been over-turned. If Obama does something similar, well watch out.

Then there's the huge bank bailout! Bush passed this in his last year in office, Obama has done a car bailout but that's rather small when compared to the huge gigantic amount of money Bush gave the banks in 2008! And once given out that money is hard to get back.

If Obama can do all three things then yeah, he'll totally ratchet the government in the next 2 years.

Um, Obama as Commander in Chief has chosen to stay in Iraq. It's no longer Bush's War. It's Obama's war. Obama can choose to pull us out of it at any time, but he chooses not to.

 

[nageov3t]

Unlike Rome our people get to vote themselves more bread. Our problem is therefore much worse.

Those who'd fix it are not voted in, or swiftly voted out.

Romans got free alcohol too.

I feel gypped.

 

[her209]

Not to nitpick, but TARP (designed by the Bush administration but passed by the Democrat Congress) was designed to liquidate the toxic assets.

LOL... remind us what Bush did with TARP again.

Obama changed this to taking control of the damaged companies via stock purchases, leaving the toxic assets to somehow detoxify themselves. (Like the Mafia, government is ALWAYS the senior partner.) There's a very large difference both in increasing the scope of government and in the long term affect on our economy.

We're already socializing losses already, might as well as socialize profits as well.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Given some time the OP's troll status will become legendary

 

[Darwin333]

I totally agree. Sometime in the next 2 years Obama will totally start a war. The thing about wars is once you're in them, you can't really get out, so if Obama starts a war like Bush did, then he'll really ratchet the government to monumental proportions.

And I'm pretty certain Obama's going to get rid of our privacy. Think the Patriot act. Stuff like that is hard to over-turn, Bush passed it in 2001 and it still hasn't been over-turned. If Obama does something similar, well watch out.

He already did.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/27/obama-signs-one-year-extension-patriot-act/

Then there's the huge bank bailout! Bush passed this in his last year in office, Obama has done a car bailout but that's rather small when compared to the huge gigantic amount of money Bush gave the banks in 2008! And once given out that money is hard to get back.

If Obama can do all three things then yeah, he'll totally ratchet the government in the next 2 years.

Bush left half of the $700B for Obama to spend, which he happily did. Then you had the "backdoor bailouts" like the housing credit and C4C and the healthcare insurance company/Big Pharma bailout. On top of that you had the stimulus bill which added a ton of reoccurring spending...