Are Democrats truly blameless for mess?

Mr. Boros of Mount Prospect submitted (Fence Post 9/16/08) his point of view about how he disagreed with the opinion of another that our economy is better off under the Bush Administration. He also went on to comment how McCain is entrenched in the policies in the past and Obama is looking toward the future.

I can agree that the economy isn't at its best right now, but looking back to before the Bush Administration, the Dow Jones is higher now then all of 2000 when Clinton was in office. Since the Democrats took control of Congress, gasoline prices doubled, food prices increased and the dollar has gotten weaker. In the interest of making housing more affordable, the Democrats under Carter and President Clinton changed the mortgage rules, which helped create the No-interest loans, sub-prime rates, no-money-down mortgages, to help people with no credit buy homes. These products flooded the market only to inflate housing prices to unrealistic levels. It backfired as houses became more unaffordable and forced many people to sell due to higher real estate taxes. Signs of the weaknesses of this more affordable housing plan and perceived problems with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac became evident in 2003. When Bush pushed for regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2003, Democrats blocked it. When Republican senators demand investigation of Frank Raines' earnings was blocked, the Fannie Mae CEO gave Obama over $100,000 in campaign contributions. Raines, by the way, was Bill Clinton's budget director and an Obama advisor. Knowing this, I blame Bush for not working hard enough to reinstitute the old regulations. Can Obama and the "Blame Bush Crowd" truly say that the Democrats had nothing to do with this financial mess? I don't think so.

Ron Feldman

Roselle