All are responsible for economic woes

I was first amused but then startled by Russsell C. W. Crom's analysis of our economic problems: "Democratic watchdogs watched the farce happen and did nothing." To blame the minority party (and yes, he blamed Clinton, too) without recognizing the true causes of this recession is wrong. I am reminded of the old saying that if we don't learn from our mistakes we are destined to repeat them.

People need to realize this recession was caused by putting political ideology before common sense. It was caused by concentrating wealth in the hands of just a few, partly by misguided tax laws that preached that this wealth would trickle down. It was caused by shipping jobs to a Communist country under the guise of free trade, which history will certainly show isn't free at all. It was caused by trusting the ideology of trickle-down economics and allowing deficit spending while common sense told all of us this was wrong. But most of all, this was caused by Republicans and Democrats alike; those who experimented with American society and those who stood by and watched them.

If anyone still believes the current trickle-down economic policy is a viable or desirable economic alternative, they're either not paying attention to the world around them or they have a strictly political, and not economic, agenda. Trickle-down economics has failed miserably. Enough already, let it go. Concerning greed: yes, there was greed that inflated the excesses of big business, and also caused much of the current mortgage problems. But this greed was empowered and enabled by deregulation. The principles of deregulation, born under Reagan to reduce the waste and excesses of big government, have been stolen to become a plaything of business. Reagan himself said "trust but verify". Where were the "checks and balances" while the greed and excesses of big business was released on America? There will always be greed; one of the tasks of government is to keep it under control.

Phil Graf

Rolling Meadows