Yeah and if people like Clinton, Dodd and Frank didn't allow banks to give out riskier Mortgages to people who could not make the bills we wouldn't be in this mess, so don't completely point the finger at Bush here. Plenty of this crap was thrown at him by Clinton the second he steped into office. It's pretty pathetic that everyone uses Bush as a scapegoat for any wrong doing, when this Bank crisis had far more than 8 years to get where it is now. But let me guess... Bush traveled back in time to cause this mess, right?!

please take note of the sarcasm in the last sentence..

Was it sarcastic? I thought you might have discovered a new characteristic of the space-time continuum.

Bush and the Republican Congress shirked all their responsibility for oversight. Period.

Now who could have forseen Wall Street guys being around megatons of money and not taking it?

Who could have forseen or even conceived of "Real Estate doesn't appreciate in value continuously" being an untrue proposition?

You should have heard Clinton discussing that very question a few nights ago on TV. You might not believe that particular myth afterwards...but I imagine it's on YouTube if you're interested.

A politician who could possibly lie on TV? *GASP!* NEVER!

I don't think one should assume that he's lying. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't.

Just because one can lie, or has lied doesn't determine the veracity of his/her next statement, as it is independent.

Astyanax, while it may be true some lower income mortgagees defaulted on their loans, economically that is but a drop of piddle in the ocean compared to the rampant greed that proliferated and became prolific as a result of deregulating the banking and financial markets during the Bush administration.  That did not occur in previous administrations to anywhere near the degree because the Bush administration had strong ties ties to big business, and corporate/banking/finance high rollers took advantage of that fact because they had the sympathetic ear of the government.

True, Clinton had his faults while in office, but he did not sign off on runaway greed like Bush and his cronies did... period.

Oh, and Obama is not creating debt for generations to come with his 'stimulus' package.  That debt and economic uncertainity was created by the previous administration's mismanagement.  What Obama is trying to do is plug the hole created for him by the Bush administration and the rampant greed that flourished during it. In other words, he is trying to put back into the economy what was taken out of it by greed, fraud and executives trying to get rich quick off the efforts and proceeds of others.

Sadly, however, I don't think Obama's package will stimultate the US economy unless he forces corporations to be accountable for every cent and makes them to use those government funds to create jobs and etc, because allowing them to continue down the path of corporate excesses would defeat the pupose and stimulate only the wallets/bank accounts of those who don't need it in the first place.  There has to be a cap set on executive salaries, lurks and perks, with those living well above it being brought back to earth, or it will fail bigtime.

Also, starting from the top down and ignoring the financial plight of the 'average joe' will do nothing to stimulate the economy as there'd be little or no consumer demand/confidence in the marketplace.... meaning production and profits would be down, jobs would go and we'd be back a square one while the fat cats sit in the lap of luxury.  It has to be a balanced approach that increases the basic minimum wage for rank and file workers - a fair day's work for a fair day's pay - and gives some assistance to those who are financially disadvantaged through no fault of their own... because they too are consumers whose purchases would help stimulate the economy, given the propenisty to pay. 

It should not be about the 'haves' staying that far ahead of the 'have nots, but about a more equitable distribution of wealth that alleviates the fear of financial hardship and allows some quality of life to all.  Nothing wrong with that... though the fat cats and government cronies would have you believe otherwise and have been indoctrinating poor people for decades to believe that their poverty is their own doing.... yeah, right, when the minimum vasic wage is barely enough to keep a roof over their heads and put food on ther table, with little or nothing left for much else.

Poverty should never exist in a country with the wealth and resources of the US, yet there it is, existing right along side the obscenely wealthy who don't/won't lift a finger to help ease the suffering of their neighbours.... and this is good how!!!!