Great Recession Responsibilities

There is no lack of blame to go around for the Great Recession - there are countless culpable parties from Wall Street, to mortgage lenders, to the government to the home owner's who bought houses they couldn't afford, to the ratings agencies and to investors who bought toxic assets they didn't understand.  There is one group who I have at least not heard being assigned blame and that is 50.7% of Americans, 62 million people, who voted for George Bush in the 2004 election as well as the 45% of eligible voters who didn't even vote.

The Bush administration is blamed constantly for our current fiscal crisis and it deserves this reaction of course.  However, we must not forget that Bush was elected - twice.  I highlight the 2004 election because in 2000 many people admit they made mistakes.  However, for the 2004 election everyone knew what they would get.  Everyday on the news I read or see outraged Americans, railing against our socialist government.  While some outrage might be justified, I do not recall such outrage when Bush was in office.

If we think about it, it is far easier to blame everyone - especially "evil" CEOs and Wall Streeters than it is to accept responsibility.  While some might argue that a different administration might not have led to a different outcome, that seems a little unlikely if we just do a quick tally of all the incompetence that occurred in the Bush administration - from the handling of the Iraq War to Katrina to the budget deficit sums it up.  After all Bush made home ownership a central theme of his agenda.  While home ownership is an admirable goal, as we have learned it is not for everyone.  However, at the end of the day, it is far easier for the news media or politicians to blame Wall Street than it is to assign a little blame to a majority of the population.  The media and individuals would benefit though by reiterating the importance of voting and voting for the best candidate as our government can have a significant impact on our lives.