The Bush legacy, no really....
I know that I teased you with this one night a few months ago and then held back. So here goes, I still want to hold back a little, so expect a condensed version. When it is all said and done and history looks at the current administration, here is what will be the enduring legacy of President Bush.
He kept this country from falling apart after 9/11. Now I know that a few years have gone by and as Americans have the memory of Mr. Magoo, some may disagree, but they would be wrong. This country is really about two things, freedom and the economy, and not always in that order. As long as we can jump in our 4x4 Exursions and take the kids to Disney World on vacation and we have the money to do it, we are happy. Think back, on 9/11 everything stopped. The economy headed South, hundreds of thousands lost their jobs, the stock market cratered, some segments of the economy have never come back like certain airlines. Domestically, this country had been peaceful for decades. Political correctness, racial harmony, not too much in the way of unemployment, the economy had been strong, violent crime was down, as a country we were pretty happy... fat, dumb, and happy. We had happily ignored terrorism for many administrations and were content to continue. All of the sudden, everything stopped. Was that check going to keep coming in, what was the market doing, were there more attacks on the way?
If this had continued, it might have been the end of our reign as the big dog on the porch. Do you really think that it is going to last forever? Now you might say, oh no, in our civilized society, we would just keep on our merry way. We would wait for things to get back to normal and I could keep paying the orthodontist his two hundred a month for the kids braces, and fifteen hundred a month for the house and six hundred a month for the Excursion and three hundred a month for gas and two hundred a month for the insurance and three hundred a month for the groceries and another three hundred a month for electric and fuel oil and another five hundred a month for the wife's Volvo and two hundred for the kids dance, guitar, gymnastics or whatever lessons and of course the twenty grand a year for the one in college, and oh yeah three hundred a month for credit card debt, HEY WAKE UP...
All that goes away if the economy tanks. You can maintain as long as there is cash flow, even if times aren't great, but stop the cash flow and things get bad quick.
All of the sudden you can't afford gas, the boss says he has to reduce overhead and since you have only been here for five years, you have to go. Good luck... FOMOCO Credit wants their vehicles back and your mortgage company is asking when you would be available to move out of your house, and all of the sudden pork has come into fashion because beef is just too expensive. A month later you are worried about being able to house and feed the kids, you know the ones that can live with crooked teeth. Now people are starting to protest and mayhem breaks loose as the looting starts and things start to burn.... AND WHAT IN THE HELL IS THE GOVERNMENT DOING ABOUT IT. People aren't buying food anymore, they are taking it, maybe from you. All of the sudden things aren't so harmonious, we don't love everyone and all you care about is keeping your family warm and fed. Now there isn't any food in the stores....
I could go on, and you may not believe that it could ever happen here (pull your head out, there is sand in your ears), but it could. The terrorists weren't aiming to hurt the economy, they wanted to make a statement, to bloody the great satan's nose, and they did. What did they learn? Now they know they can hurt the economy and that is our Achilles heel. They will be back.
Now for the legacy, THE WHAT IN THE HELL DID THE GOVERNMENT DO ABOUT IT...
Think back, the Bush administration immediately began to encourage the move back to the norm, they stoked the economy by continually lowering interest rates to encourage spending and the movement of money within the economy. By lowering rates, the Fed allowed lending institutions to lower their rates and to dangle these incentives to the public. The result was lower lending rates for houses, real estate, and vehicles and in the end the stimulation of the economy through the sales of these items. In short it worked, no the economy did not bounce back right away, but it came back. A slow recovery and not to the boom of the nineties, but that wasn't the point. The goal was to save the country and this administration accomplished that goal. THAT IS WHAT THE GOVERNMENT DID ABOUT IT! The legacy.....
There is more, but it can wait. When you read about this in the future, remember where you saw if first.
BT
He kept this country from falling apart after 9/11. Now I know that a few years have gone by and as Americans have the memory of Mr. Magoo, some may disagree, but they would be wrong. This country is really about two things, freedom and the economy, and not always in that order. As long as we can jump in our 4x4 Exursions and take the kids to Disney World on vacation and we have the money to do it, we are happy. Think back, on 9/11 everything stopped. The economy headed South, hundreds of thousands lost their jobs, the stock market cratered, some segments of the economy have never come back like certain airlines. Domestically, this country had been peaceful for decades. Political correctness, racial harmony, not too much in the way of unemployment, the economy had been strong, violent crime was down, as a country we were pretty happy... fat, dumb, and happy. We had happily ignored terrorism for many administrations and were content to continue. All of the sudden, everything stopped. Was that check going to keep coming in, what was the market doing, were there more attacks on the way?
If this had continued, it might have been the end of our reign as the big dog on the porch. Do you really think that it is going to last forever? Now you might say, oh no, in our civilized society, we would just keep on our merry way. We would wait for things to get back to normal and I could keep paying the orthodontist his two hundred a month for the kids braces, and fifteen hundred a month for the house and six hundred a month for the Excursion and three hundred a month for gas and two hundred a month for the insurance and three hundred a month for the groceries and another three hundred a month for electric and fuel oil and another five hundred a month for the wife's Volvo and two hundred for the kids dance, guitar, gymnastics or whatever lessons and of course the twenty grand a year for the one in college, and oh yeah three hundred a month for credit card debt, HEY WAKE UP...
All that goes away if the economy tanks. You can maintain as long as there is cash flow, even if times aren't great, but stop the cash flow and things get bad quick.
All of the sudden you can't afford gas, the boss says he has to reduce overhead and since you have only been here for five years, you have to go. Good luck... FOMOCO Credit wants their vehicles back and your mortgage company is asking when you would be available to move out of your house, and all of the sudden pork has come into fashion because beef is just too expensive. A month later you are worried about being able to house and feed the kids, you know the ones that can live with crooked teeth. Now people are starting to protest and mayhem breaks loose as the looting starts and things start to burn.... AND WHAT IN THE HELL IS THE GOVERNMENT DOING ABOUT IT. People aren't buying food anymore, they are taking it, maybe from you. All of the sudden things aren't so harmonious, we don't love everyone and all you care about is keeping your family warm and fed. Now there isn't any food in the stores....
I could go on, and you may not believe that it could ever happen here (pull your head out, there is sand in your ears), but it could. The terrorists weren't aiming to hurt the economy, they wanted to make a statement, to bloody the great satan's nose, and they did. What did they learn? Now they know they can hurt the economy and that is our Achilles heel. They will be back.
Now for the legacy, THE WHAT IN THE HELL DID THE GOVERNMENT DO ABOUT IT...
Think back, the Bush administration immediately began to encourage the move back to the norm, they stoked the economy by continually lowering interest rates to encourage spending and the movement of money within the economy. By lowering rates, the Fed allowed lending institutions to lower their rates and to dangle these incentives to the public. The result was lower lending rates for houses, real estate, and vehicles and in the end the stimulation of the economy through the sales of these items. In short it worked, no the economy did not bounce back right away, but it came back. A slow recovery and not to the boom of the nineties, but that wasn't the point. The goal was to save the country and this administration accomplished that goal. THAT IS WHAT THE GOVERNMENT DID ABOUT IT! The legacy.....
There is more, but it can wait. When you read about this in the future, remember where you saw if first.
BT
posted by Border Train at 11:08 PM
