Posted on 07/25/2015 1:24:41 AM PDT by familyop
Donald Trump was asked today to explain why, as he has said, he has identified more with Democrats than with Republicans. The answer, he claimed, is that the economy crashed in 2008 because of mistakes made by President Bush.
This may be a good answer (or the best one available) from a political perspective. Trump is appealing primarily to disaffected Republicans who believe the GOP hasn’t stood up for them sufficiently on issues relating to the economy (immigration is the best example). Attributing his pro-Democrat leanings to Bush’s handling of the economy makes political sense.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t make historical sense; nor is it an honest explanation. The Bush administration certainly isn’t blameless when it comes to the 2008 crash. But, as we have argued and New York Times reporter Gretchen Morgenson and her co-author Joshua Rosen have shown, it was mainly the imposition of race-conscious lending practices on the banking industry that led to the financial crisis.
In 1994, Bill Clinton proposed increasing home ownership through a “partnership” between government and the private sector, principally orchestrated by Fannie Mae. Lenders proceeded to promote reckless borrowing, knowing they could offload risk to purchasers of bundled loans, and especially to Fannie. In 1994, subprime lending was $40 billion. In 1995, almost one in five mortgages was subprime. Four years later such lending totaled $160 billion.
The Bush administration warned as early as 2001 about the problems these lending policies were creating, and in 2003, through Secretary of Treasury John Snow, pushed for reforms to address the issue. But congressional Democrats, led by Barney Frank, blocked reform legislation.
Yes, Bush should have done more to alleviate the situation. But no, Republicans don’t bear primary responsibility for the 2008 crash.
Nor did a belief to the contrary cause Trump to tilt to the Democrats. According to this account, Trump was a registered Democrat from 2001-2008. He switched his registration the very year that, in his telling, the Republicans “crashed the economy.”
In truth, Trump is a natural Democrat. His views on major issues are — or were until recently — standard-issue liberal.
Peter Wehner has the details.
[Trump] has supported massive tax increases on the wealthy, a Canadian-style single-payer health care system, and is a fierce protection. He once declared himself “strongly pro-choice” and favored drug legalization.Earlier this year, he accused Republicans who want to reform entitlement programs — the essential task for those who favor limited government — of “attacking” Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Barack Obama couldn’t have said it better.
And Barney Frank couldn’t have better stated the Democrats’ line on who caused the 2008 financial crisis.
We need not consult Trump’s revisionist history of that crisis to figure out why he was a registered Democrat for most of the last decade. On key issues his views align closely with those of the Dems.
It’s as straightforward as that.
She is not a head of Goldman....and while it’s not my favorite biographical factoid, it’s not a problem. BTW, I’m pretty sure she has, or will, resign...and I’m 100% sure Cruz is leading the fight against the crony cartel.
Would I vote for Trump in the primary? No. Would I vote for him if he were the GOP nominee in 2016? Yes. Because the alternative (Hildabeast or Bernie “Red” Sanders) is unthinkable.
Yep, on board with pretty much all of that....
She is not a head of Goldman....and while it’s not my favorite biographical factoid, it’s not a problem. BTW, I’m pretty sure she has, or will, resign...and I’m 100% sure Cruz is leading the fight against the crony cartel.
It is problem. Literally sleeping with Goldman while campaigning against the “Washington cartel” is bad optics.
That's the salient question of both the 08 and 12 elections....but the answer is, in addition to Trump, there's the Obama lo fo voters, John McCain and Mitt Romney too. All of those people were on the blame Bush bandwagon, ignorantly pushing the entire debate to the left, which as you said, was exactly the wrong thing to do.
Okay, so by your logic, you are saying that A: everyone and everything and every single bit of Goldman's business model is corrupt and that B: every employee of Goldman is 100% on board with their cronyism and C: there's no value in inside knowledge of cronyism and D: Cruz is lying about fighting the cartel and E: you're voting for Jesus, because as we know, He is on the ballot.
I think what happened in 08 and 12 was that the right stayed home in large enough numbers and with the combination of low info voters, the media pushing Obama, and voter fraud, it was enough to seal the fate of your nation for 8 years. Sad.
When all else fails, blame Bush.
The “economic policies” he’s complaining about were those passed by Democrat legislatures. Bush should have vetoed them - even though they had enough votes to override- but he felt it was the president’s job to respect the legislative will of the people. Unlike the dictator who now squats in the WH.
Oh that's partly "what" happened...but I'm talking about "why" it happened...and one reason why is that Obama ran against Bush both times....he never ran against McCain or Romney because he didn't have to...BECAUSE THEY were running against Bush as well! There's more to it than that, but never forget, the percentage of people who voted Obama in 2012 is EXACTLY the same percentage of people who still blamed Bush for the economy...about 53%. Probably almost one to one the exact same voters too.
This is why I've been waiting on the right moment for a column for AT or Breitbart - "The Lie that Must be Corrected" - meaning we will never win the White House until we do. That lie is the belief that Bush, thereby conservatism and the free market, caused the crash in 08. It's so wrong, and so widely believed...and damned if Trump isn't one who believes it.
It bust after the Democrats took over Congress in 2006.
Agreed - the crash of 08 was caused by Bill Clinton and Barney Frank, if what I had read is true.
The deceitful main stream media are more diabolical than the politicians, IMHO.
Well, it was just last Friday, I believe, that he told “Morning Joe” he has a lot of Democrat views. Keep in mind he was a registered Democrat as recently as 2009, and has said that the economy always does better under Democrats.
All of that is pretty incompatible with the next Reagan/Churchill/savior of the nation.
It's guaranteed not to happen if conservatives see and recognize the true conservative candidate, but dismiss him in favor of a reality-show celebrity.
Yes, he's saying a lot. Meanwhile Cruz is in Washington, putting his rear end on the line for us.
Yes...and also Chris Dodds, and the EPA and every other liberal who helped quash our domestic energy industry for 30 years, and Jimmy Carter - who started the ball rolling on mortgage mischief - and all the other leftists who supported all of this...and the Republican cronies who went along with government doing the wrong thing and figured out how to enrich themselves - instead of fighting a government doing the wrong thing.
I am beginning to be totally convinced that the worst part about Medicare part D is NOT the huge cost but that the money is mainly wasted buying prescription drugs that, in reality, do more HARM than good.
“So is Jeb any better than Trump, on any issue?”
Maybe he speaks better Spanish?
“Maybe he speaks better Spanish?”
Dammit, you’re right...maybe even better Spanish than Cruz.
Looks like Jeb’s the man, then. LOL.
He was a Democrat BEFORE 2008...
Funny how you dismiss that out of hand, but won’t give the same understanding to Trump. He is right on the big issues and is the best one at fighting the media.
Blah, blah, blah. LOL!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.