Which Policies Of Bush Caused The Economic Mess We're In?

Over and over, again, Obama and the Democrats blame the "policies" of George W. Bush for causing the recession and the economic mess we find ourselves in.  Literally, you heard a continuous chorus of those charges being made during the recent Democratic Convention.  But, I ask you this: "Have you ever heard a single Democrat, including Obama, tell you what specific Bush policies caused the recession?"  My guess is no because, as close as I am to politics, I have never heard an explanation or itemization of those supposed bad policies.  In fact, the Democrats, who had complete control of our government in 2009 and 2010, never really held hearings or issued a report blaming Bush for the recession and the banking problems.  Certainly, if Bush and the Republicans were at fault, you would have thought that the Democrats would have never passed up such a juicy political opportunity.  But, they did because too much of their own bad policies led to the recession and the housing collapse.

If you really want to know why banks were able to bundle worthless mortgages and sell them to each other and, again, sell them to banks in other countries, you need only look to the sweeping changes in banking regulation that Bill Clinton signed into law in 1999.  Here's the hype story from the very liberal New York Times; dated November 13, 1999:

"President Clinton signed into law today a sweeping overhaul of Depression-era banking laws. The measure lifts barriers in the industry and allows banks, securities firms and insurance companies to merge and to sell each other's products."

It was from this very change in the banking laws that gave the banks and Wall Street firms a green light to bundle and sell so many worthless mortgages; putting their own financial security in jeopardy.  This is the very reason that billions of dollars in TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) monies had to be used to save banks, and the securities and mortgage industries.  The fact is, that, if Clinton had left the previous banking regulations in place -- the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act and the 1956 Bank Holding Company Act -- we would have never seen the collapse of the banking industry; and, the recession would have definitely been less severe.  For sure, the mortgage industry would have been held to a higher standard and, as a result, the housing collapse might have been averted.

Unfortunately, George W. Bush has remained silent on this and so many other charges that Obama and the Democrats have leveled against him.  But, to me, they are just charges without any foundation. On top of that, you have a left-wing media who has also remained silent and who has been unwilling to expose this constant lie by Obama. To top that all off, you have the obviously economically guilty Bill Clinton, at last weeks' DNC, lecturing us on how good Democrats are with economic issues. 

Reference: New York Times: Clinton Signs Legislation Overhauling Banking Laws: http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/13/business/clinton-signs-legislation-overhauling-banking-laws.html