Look to Bush’s predecessor to blame

Donna Brazile’s June 19 comments placing the primary responsibility for the “collapse of the housing market and the financial industry” on Bush-era policies are absolutely incorrect. She’s the one with the short memory. Those coincident catastrophes are the work of Bill Clinton. He signed away that portion of the Glass-Steagall Act that kept banking and other financial industries from merging into mega-money giants that had cross interests with those of the general public. He’s the one who pressed for and got a major loosening of the home loan laws to enable more and more marginal borrowers borrow beyond their means. Means were not even important in the mess that followed!

To Brazile’s credit, Bush did fall down on enforcement. There were people in government and in the financial industry who tried to blow the whistle on what was happening, and the Bush people ignored it all. Bush had an opportunity to reduce the severity and risk of what was to follow.

And while we’re at it, Bill Clinton did some other neat stuff. He ignored the illegal immigration problem that continued to grow after the last amnesty. He failed to adequately prepare us for the al-Qaida threat that was already known and growing. He forced the government to shut down twice in his budget battle with Congress, forcing cuts in key government agencies while kicking the more serious problem of entitlement reform down the road. He put federal income tax on our Social Security income. He slimed up the White House with his personal behavior and then lied about it under oath.

Obama thinks Bill’s his man, and has engaged him in his re-election campaign. What a loser. Why do people like this guy? Bill’s not my friend, and he shouldn’t be yours.

Richard Cichanski

Palatine