I think a Democratic Senate is the problem Options

[Mommy]

Ok, so our country is having all these economic problems right now, and everyone blames the Bush administration. I suggest it's a Democratic Senate instead. They absolutely fail to stay in touch with the American people. Here is just a simple example of that: protecting our borders. This is an excellent video if you have the time to watch it.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/0...ref=videosearch

[Mommy]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080611/ap_on_...o/gays_military

Another failure of the Democrats

[Dogmeat]

yeah the current congress is mind numbingly incompetent ... Gas is $5.00 a gallon or whatever but let's still do all we can to not develop our own natural resources in this country, because uh, yeah, it'll "hurt the environment"

I swear, they're communists.

[impala454]

And they just tried to drop a huge tax on oil & gas companies.... yeah that'll solve the problem

[Spectatrix]

The current congress is pretty ineffectual, I will certainly grant you that. I can't say I'm terribly upset over their inaction on funding the border fence (dumbest. idea. ever.), but getting rid of don't ask, don't tell is a worthy goal.

That having been said, I think the democratic congress has very little to do with the current state of the economy. The conditions that led to the subprime mortgage crisis, for instance, were in place many years ago, long before the democrats took control of Congress. Gas prices? Well, it's a complex issue, but developing national oil stores wouldn't pay off for a decade or so.

I would blame the Bush administration partially for the national deficit we have, due to the combination of cutting taxes and getting us into an expensive, drawn-out war, but I don't think that's at the root of the country's current economic woes.

[Mommy]

The current congress is pretty ineffectual, I will certainly grant you that. I can't say I'm terribly upset over their inaction on funding the border fence (dumbest. idea. ever.), but getting rid of don't ask, don't tell is a worthy goal.

That having been said, I think the democratic congress has very little to do with the current state of the economy. The conditions that led to the subprime mortgage crisis, for instance, were in place many years ago, long before the democrats took control of Congress. Gas prices? Well, it's a complex issue, but developing national oil stores wouldn't pay off for a decade or so.

I would blame the Bush administration partially for the national deficit we have, due to the combination of cutting taxes and getting us into an expensive, drawn-out war, but I don't think that's at the root of the country's current economic woes.

I just get mad when people speak out their ass about the economy being poor because of the Bush administration when a lot of the problems we have are beyond that. If the Bush administration were to blame, that would make no sense because we have a democratic Senate.

[Aaron]

The fact that we're in a Presidential election year doesn't help matters at all, IMO.

We haven't had a Congress that was worth a shit since the early to mid-1990's. Retrospectively speaking, since I was like eight at the time, I don't agree with everything in the Contract For America but at least Newt and the Republicans went in and DID something.

I suspect/hope that we might see something similar in the next Congress, because pretty much every projection/poll I've seen shows that the Democrats are going to make significant gains in both houses of Congress. If Obama wins, you could see a lot of stuff get pushed through in the first two years.

RE: don't ask don't tell... I think we should absolutely do away with this policy, but I'm not sure if doing so in the middle of a war is the most prudent thing to do.

[Mommy]

It's just weird because I talk to a lot of my husband's Army friends and they are all under the assumption that it's already done away with. Maybe it's Army policy that "don't ask, don't tell" doesn't exist anymore? I don't know. It's just strange

[woody]

don't ask don't tell:
fuck up policy, but i understand why it's there.

pelosi, not that i've see at least, hasn't released her 'commonsense plan' to lower gas prices...it's been 2 years

economy sucks largely due to sub-prime, but that was a bubble waiting to burst for years, well prior to bush taking office.

both sides, rep/dems, are so fucking stubborn it's to the point that they can't work together to represent the needs of the common people, which is suppose to be their fucking job.

[Melanie]

My former boss attempted to pass a bill through the state leg regarding predatory lending. It didn't even make the calendar thanks to fucking Tom Craddick.

[Spectatrix]

I just get mad when people speak out their ass about the economy being poor because of the Bush administration when a lot of the problems we have are beyond that. If the Bush administration were to blame, that would make no sense because we have a democratic Senate.

I guess people just don't understand how complex the cause/effect relationships of these hot button issues are. The Bush administration, the current Democratic Congress, the Republican Congress before that, and various other administrations are probably all partially at fault for all the problems people harp on. It's rarely as simple as "X is Y's fault".

[impala454]

Gas prices? Well, it's a complex issue, but developing national oil stores wouldn't pay off for a decade or so.

I think it would pay off much sooner than a decade. Remember oil futures are what really has driven up prices lately, and if we were to pass all the necessary legislation right now, oil futures would begin to drop pretty quickly. Investors would level off or even begin to sell, sensing a peak, and it would snowball at some point I'm sure.

[Spectatrix]

Hrm, good point. Hadn't thought of that aspect of things.