A country with huge trade deficits, mass out-sourcing of jobs and amassing incredile debt . . . personal incomes declining and people trying to maintain a previous level of lifestyle that their current earnings wouldn't support, by borrowing equity from their homes . . . appreciation of home values beyond all reason or reasonable expectation that this could continue or even be maintained. There were many voices out there warn of the impending crash of the American and world economies . . people advising then to convert assets into something more tangible and less vulnerable, such as silver and gold (I was buying then).
I would agree that the average person wanting to get a house, or a bigger house, didn't know or expect what would occur. But our leaders? You don't think members of Congress, with their impressive staffs and access to any sort of expert analysis, shouldn't have known?
There is an old saying that I know you are familiar with: "Give a man enough rope and he will hang himself." In this case, the Democrats helped supply and apply the rope, they were so eager to bring down the Bush Administration and other Republicans. Democrats approved those military expenditures for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan too. You can say, "Well, they didn't want to be accused of being unpatriotic and risk losing elections." But if the Dems were so sure that the claims of WMD were in error, and if they weren't eager to see the Bush Administration take the fall for those military misadventures, they could have fought harder to oppose Bush and the Republicans. If you can bring up your evidence for how wrong it was to enter Iraq, or even Afghanistan, then I'm sure top De,ocrats had access to such information. But, in my view, they wanted to topple the Republicans so badly that they were willing to approve things that they had to know would be bad for the country.
But, unlike you Nat, I admit that Republicans also inflict harm upon our country simply to defeat Democrats. Both parties -- not just one -- betray our country with such childish actions.
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