The conservative Republicans had the White House for eight years, during which they launched two expensive wars and vastly expanded the government while cutting taxes, thereby ballooning the federal debt. And to this day they are arguing for more tax cuts to stimulate the economy, despite clear evidence that the 2008 “stimulus” tax rebates had no perceptible effect on the economy. Conservative Republicans also championed the unfettered, under-regulated ”free market” that imploded so spectacularly this winter – on the watch of a conservative Republican president. So despite the rantings of Rush Limbaugh, the conservative Republicans don’t have a lot of credibility in this argument.
The liberal Democrats have had control of Congress for two years now, with little to show for it. Despite trying to remake their image as fiscally responsible, it was Democrats, during the Carter years, who first created the subprime mortgages as a way to push a liberal agenda of making home ownership more widely available - even, apparently, to people who couldn’t afford the mortgages. Congress at that time passed the Community Reinvestment Act, empowering regulators to punish banks that failed to "meet the credit needs" of "low-income, minority, and distressed neighborhoods."
And it was Democrats (Democratic Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the Financial Services Committee chairman, foremost among them) who turned back a Republican attempt in 2003 to increase the oversight of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. For those liberals with short memories, here are Representative Frank’s exact words at the time:
"These two entities—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—are not facing any kind of financial crisis. The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."
And now it is Democrats in the House and the Senate who have been trying to lumber the stimulus package with as many other expensive goodies as they can cram into it, with the result that a simple, clean stimulus bill that ought to have widespread bipartisan support will pass, if it passes at all, by the narrowest of margins.
So in truth neither the liberals nor the conservatives come out looking good in this mess. And that isn’t really surprising, because despite obvious ideological differences, Washington politicians on both side of the aisle are really much the same, players in a large-scale power, influence and money game.
President Obama came to power promising to change the way Washington works. Despite his best intentions and as much as we would like to see him succeed, it will be a hard promise to keep.
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