Don't blame Bush for economic woes

Did I miss something? I thought the Democrats took control of both houses in January 2007. That must have meant everything that passed the next two years was through a Democratic majority and not what President Bush or the Republicans necessarily wanted.

Looking at the unemployment record through four time markers - January 2001 when President Bush took office, January 2007 when Democrats took control of both houses, January 2009 when President Obama took office with Democrats in majority control, and the present - the percentages stand at 4.7, 4.6, 7.6 and 9.6, respectively, a rise of 5 points since the Democrats took control of Congress.

The Dow Jones was at 8,257 in 2001, then 10,578, 10,603 and 10,5l5, respectively. The Nasdaq went from 1394 to 2757 to 2291 to 2278. The S&P went from 879 to 1342 to 1178 to 1117. We can see the major indexes increased during President Bush's first six years. The Dow Jones has stayed much the same the past three-plus years under Democratic control, but the Nasdaq and S&P have dropped about 18 percent.

It would appear to me that the banking policies blamed on President Bush should fall more on the Democrats looking at what has happened the past three years, eight months.

I often wondered how much heat President Bush would have gotten if his last name were different, like Adams. Unfortunately President Bush has a name where "bush" is considered more lowly, like "bush league," which fuels those who were anti-President Bush/Republicans. He certainly deserves more respect for the eight years he was in office than what he has been getting.

Donald Anderson

Arlington Heights