Bush's economic policies were bad? Really?

More wonderful reading: The Constitution says Congress regulates the economy not the President! Since 2006, Democrats ran Congress. Uh oh.

Specifics...please?
On CNN Late Edition today, Senator Evan Bayh (D - Indiana) commented that McCain was going to carry on Bush's economic policies if he was elected. Yet, Bayh couldn't exactly pinpoint which specific Bush policies were wrong. Was it the tax cuts that created jobs after 9/11 and dot com bubble recession (from Clinton's time)? Bayh also commented that McCain voted "with Bush" 90% of the time -- yet he failed to mention Obama voted 40% of the time "with Bush" in 2007.

Government 101 - Who makes "policies?"
Let's go to government 101 and analyze some basics about the structure of the executive and the legislative branch. I want to highlight this because Senator Bayh seems to be confusing people when he says "Bush's policies".

The president signs bills into law. The policies from those bills, that affect the housing market, tax rates, minimum wage, welfare, declaration of war, job creation -- all of those details are sorted out by....Congress! Which party actually has the majority in both houses of Congress since 2006? The Democrats. Hmmm... The plot thickens. For the past two years, government policy, and potential economic reform has been under the approval or disapproval of the Democratic majority.

Obama votes present on unpopular bills instead of 'yes' or 'no'
The percentage of Obama's agreement on "Bush's policies" would have probably been higher if Obama actually had an opinion on 129 bills, where instead of voting "yes" or "no", he politically postured to vote "present" to avoid being held accountable for it in future political debates. For instance, he voted "present" on legislation where victims of rape and sex crimes could have their courts sealed. Anything that smells of controversy and could hold him accountable to the public, he seem to have avoided. He only agreed to vote on what's popular. Ouch.

Bad economic policy?
The cause of the economic crisis no doubt came directly from a bad housing market...but that started in the Clinton administration. In 2006, it was actually Senator McCain that tried to regulate the housing market but the Democratic majority in Congress said no way...

In 2006, McCain demanded reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose collapse ultimately precipitated the financial crisis now gripping the world.

Summary
As American citizens, we have every right to constructively criticize our government and our elected officials. But we have to do this with proper knowledge. The constant attack of "Bush policies", if you research further, points back to the Democrats, who controlled the legislative branches for the past two years.

Thoughts on George Tenet's I'm A Victim Claim

George Tenet has recently written a book about his tenure in the CIA. The book is entitled, At the Center of the Storm. In the book, he describes how he was blamed for the pre-war intelligence gathering of Iraq and that he ultimately became a scapegoat for the administration.

While I agree with Tenet that he doesn't deserve all of the blame for CIA's failures, he does deserve some of the blame.

Everyone Was Wrong
Everyone in the world thought Saddam had weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the United Nations, NATO -- you name it, they thought of it. Why? Because he used WMD against Iran and his own citizens, Iraqi Kurds. And because Saddam kept playing "bluff" to the world, rejecting inspectors over and over again.

Now what's the reason for the facade? He wanted to scare off his enemies, primarily Iran. He kept them in check. We know that now. But the majority of us didn't know back then (a handful of minority voices in the vast majority of the intelligence network had doubts about Saddam's WMD, but their voices weren't heard till more recently, after the fact).

Where Tenet Fits In
Tenet, in my humble opinion, succumbed to group mentality, or group think. Now what is group think? Wiki describes it as "...a type of thought exhibited by group members who try to minimize conflict and reach consensus without critically testing, analyzing, and evaluating ideas." It affects all of us in one way, shape or form. That's part of life. We aren't perfect people.

No matter how he tries to deny it, he had a choice. He rubberstamped the intelligence reports that went to the American people. If he knew factual errors or had doubts about what he was reporting to the White House, there were plenty of opportunities to voice out his opinion (or resign in protest).

Tenet's book is largely an attempt to explain his role in the war and perhaps a way to convince historians down the road that he didn't play a major role in the pre-war foul up of intelligence.

Sounds like he wants a more gracious legacy than what it looks like now.

Former CIA officers respond
Want to know what ex-CIA employees think of Mr. Tenet's tenure? Review the letter they sent to him.

See the book below if you're interested in reading Tenet's defense of himself.