JONATHAN CHAIT JUNE 23, 2010
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Today's New York Times has a feature about Jeb Bush, who, gosh darn it, wishes President Obama would take the blame for the country's problems rather than blame his brother:
For months now, Jeb Bush has been listening as President Obama blasts his older brother’s administration for the battered economy, budget deficits and even the lax oversight of oil wells.
“It’s kind of like a kid coming to school saying, ‘The dog ate my homework,’ ” Mr. Bush, this state’s former governor, said over lunch last week at the Biltmore Hotel. “It’s childish. This is what children do until they mature. They don’t accept responsibility.”...
“Look, I think there was a whole series of decisions made over a long period of time, the cumulative effect of which created the financial meltdown that has created the hardship that we’re facing,” he said slowly. “Congress, the administration, everyone can accept some responsibility.”
“The issue to me is what we do now,” Jeb Bush said. “Who cares who’s to blame?”
Well, that's a nice-sounding sentiment. But the reality is that the main thrust of the Republican message is to make the public believe that conditions like mass unemployment and enormous deficits are the result of President Obama's policies, rather than a result of conditions Obama inherited. Here is today's Wall Street Journal editorial bidding farewell to Peter Orszag:
According to press reports, Peter Orszag has told friends that he plans to leave as White House budget director because he wants to go out on "a high note." Would that refer to the deficit, or federal spending as a share of GDP?
And here is the reality:
The Times article makes no attempt to ascertain whether Obama is actually correct to claim that he inherited a collapsing economy and a skyrocketing deficit. The question is simply treated as a political construct.
11 comments
Once again the fetish of "fairness" is seen in all its glory. We can't just blame Bush era policies because that would not be "fair." So Obama must some how also bear the brunt of what he inherited.
- MikeB.
June 23, 2010 at 11:51am
Jeb and GHWB are alike in that, to them, everything is personal, an unfortunate and unlikable trait not shared by GWB.
- rayward
June 23, 2010 at 11:53am
I recall Ronald Reagan blaming Jimmy Carter for everything under the sun after he had been president for some time. I was a conservative then, and a supporter of Reagan, but I thought that his blame-game was just untenable. In the case of George W. Bush's legacy, there is much truth to the contention that he did a lot of damage to the nation, from rank incompetence, to the swelling of budget deficits, to lax regulation. I like how the media will take a pass on critically evaluating such claims. It becomes a "he said, she said" story. It is safer that way.
- liberal reformer
June 23, 2010 at 12:03pm
Right on, Lib Ref. Oh, and didn't George W blame Bill Clinton and his administration for 9/11 and not addressing the problem of Saddam Hussein? I don't seem to recall Jeb's brother maturely accepting the fact that the deadliest act of terrorism on US soil occurred eight months into his term and that he was responsible for ignoring overwhelming intelligence that suggested an imminent threat from Al Qaeda. I do seem to recall him saying over and over again for how America did not treat Al Qaeda as a major threat during the Clinton years. I would presume that Jeb was busy upbraiding his little brother for all those immature dodges of responsibility, no?
- wildboy
June 23, 2010 at 12:39pm
Jeb, I hate to tell you this, but the last adminstration not to blame the previous administration for its current problems was ... the Washington administration.
- jimbomoron
June 23, 2010 at 12:47pm
We wouldn't be having all these problems if we had elected John McCain. I know that by his own admission, economics was not his long suit, but Palin's vast and deep expertise would have made up for that. Alaska does not have a budget problem, and in fact, frequently rebates money to its citizens. When was the last time the US government did that? All we have to do is nationalize the US's vast energy resources. This sounds like socialism, but it wouldn't be if Sarah were in charge, because she's not a socialist. (This is what liberals who say that Obama is not a socialist because he doesn't act like one always miss - socialism isn't a set of policies, it's a mindset you inherit from your Volkswagen-driving, racial-intermarrying, mother.) If the US was making a few billion dollars a day from oil, we could afford to move all those people and fish and birds and marine mammals somewhere they wouldn't interfere with God's black gold flowing from the hole in the floor. And I bet McChrystal (or McClellan, whatever the hell his name is) wouldn't diss someone with Sarah's military cred.
- Geoff G
June 23, 2010 at 12:55pm
It is amazing how much effort and money is spent on compaigns from the local mayoralty races to the presidental race. Each candidate promises that they have a solution and then when they are elected they suddenly become aware of how bad things really are. I have absolutely no sympathy for these elected officials - they wanted the job and now the buck stops with them.
- jneuberg
June 23, 2010 at 1:00pm
Jeb is missing the point. If you give a shit about this country and its crises, it is crucially important to identify WHAT POLICIES to blame. Naming names of WHO to blame is just a crude short-hand for that. Learning from our history is not possible if everyone runs around willy-nilly accepting responsibility for whatever problems happen to be on their plate at the moment. Correctly identifying cause and effect is our guide for future action.
- Fishpeddler
June 23, 2010 at 1:03pm
The problem with all of you people is that you think this is personal - Geoff even suggests that Palin would have resolved the issues had she come in, etc. But this misses the point. Entirely. The problem is institutional. And deep. When the Democrat Party is in power, no matter which Branch (and, that includes when they have the majority in the Supreme Court), they are reponsible for all the carnage they and their policies cause the Republic, carnage that lasts for generations (see the Warren Court; the Tip O'Neill House, Carter, Monica, etc.). Republicans are voted in to clean up the mess - that simple. It stands to reason that no Democrat has a right to criticse a Republican, while each Republican has a duty to criticise previous Democrat Party administrations for all the harm they cause.
- icarusr
June 23, 2010 at 1:50pm
I think Jeb should stop blaming Obama for blaming Bush. I remember Bush W blaming Clinton for an inherited recession and I remember shortly after 9/11 Clinton was blamed for missing Bin Laden at a training camp with a rocket.
- Nusholtz
June 23, 2010 at 4:32pm
Geoff's onto something there. After all, Alaska is the state nearest to Russia, so that alone qualifies Gov. Palin as having extensive military experience. And she reads newspapers, all of them. So she's well informed.
- tnmats
June 23, 2010 at 5:15pm