I'm happy columnist Froma Harrop is better off than she was four years ago. However, her memory isn't as strong as her bank account.
Yes, many financial speculators and home sellers benefitted from the housing bubble, but that was an effect of "affordable housing" policies pushed by presidents and politicians in both parties. If there was one main cause of the crisis, it was the changes Bill Clinton made to the Community Reinvestment Act that led to poor lending standards and an overkill of subprime mortgages which were bound to default.
It may be news to many that George Bush's TARP I has been repaid with interest. TARP I wasn't a bailout; it was a loan. By the time Barack Obama was inaugurated, the financial crisis had ended. It was Obama's job, and promise, to end the economic crisis which by many measures has worsened under his watch. Obama added over $5 trillion to the national debt in less than four years with little to show for it. The total debt translates to nearly $50,000 for each and every American.
I'm glad Froma won't have any problem paying her "fair share," but I know plenty who will.
Kate Bochte
Geneva
