THE DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS CAUSED BOTH OF OUR MAJOR CRISES - THE SUB-PRIME FIASCO AND THE ENERGY CRUNCH

OUR THREE MAJOR CRISES are the the energy crunch, the sub-prime fiasco, and the Iraq War.

The Iraq War is going very well in large part because of the Surge. The Surge was supported by the GOP in Congress and narrowly passed.

If the Democrats in Congress had gotten their way - and followed the advice of Obama - then the Surge would have never occurred and we would have lost Iraq to Iran and al Qaeda.

On the other two fronts the Democrats got their way - WITH DISASTROUS RESULTS.

YES: the energy crunch and the sub-prime fiasco are both ALL the fault of the Democrats in Congress.

The entire economic crunch could have been avoided if Congress had passed Bush's Energy Policy, BUT THE DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS KILLED IT.

HERE'S PROOF:

1 - The Energy Crunch:

In 2001 - BEFORE 9/11 - Bush proposed an new energy policy for the USA, one which emphasized EXPANDING SUPPLIES. Bush proposed this after Cheney developed the plan. Their main concern was INCREASING SUPPLY. They were focused on supply because of the California Energy Crisis the year before. Cheney and Bush developed a good plan. But the Daschel led Democrat Senate killed it.

If it had been enacted then domestic supplies of all energy sources would have been BUILDING since 2002. And we might not have been subjected to the recent SPIKE or OIL BUBBLE at all, and we certainly would be paying less for energy overall, and we would certainly be paying less to foreign suppliers.

BUT THE DEMOCRATS KILLED IT, AND AS A RESULT THE ENERGY CRUNCH IS THEIR FAULT.

SOURCES HERE AND HERE.

2 - THE SUB-PRIME FIASCO IN A NUTSHELL

The current financial crisis was caused almost entirely by the sub-prime fiasco. The sub-prime explosion caused a real estate bubble - because UNSCRUPULOUS speculators took advantage of LOOSENED LENDING PRACTICES (no money down, no credit check) to buy spec homes they otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford.

When the bubble burst - (because these bubbles depend upon a bigger fool coming along to pay more than you did, and the market was simply OVERBUILT according to real housing needs and real people looking to buy a home they'd actually live in!) - these speculators bailed out; this was easy because they had made no down payment - they weren't vested in the home; they simply left the mortgage lender holding the bag.

Only the original mortgage lender no longer held the paper. It had been bundled into a derivative and resold to someone else at a discount. And this new holder had no idea really which of the mortgages In the bundle were good and real and which were bad. And when the bubble burst NOBODY WANTED TO OWN THESE DERIVATIVES. They became WORTHLESS OVERNIGHT.

Lehman and Countrywide and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and Indymacbank and Merrill owned A LOT OF THESE DERIVATIVES. So they collapsed; (Countrywide and Merrill were lucky to be bought at a HUGE discount; the other went bell yup).

AIG has a division which insured these derivatives. And that's the only reason they're in trouble (NYTIMES):

Most of A.I.G,'s businesses, including a dizzying array of insurance companies, an aircraft leasing business and an automotive unit, are healthy. But its financial products unit in London, which underwrote derivatives insuring mortgage-linked securities, threatens to drain cash faster than temporary financing can be arranged.

ALL THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED IF CONGRESS PASSED BUSH'S FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT BILL, BUT THE DEMOCRATS KILLED IT.

[THE ABOVE LINK GOES TON HOT AIR, CONTEMPORANEOUS REPORTING ON BUSH'S FINANCIAL PLAN IN THE NYTIMES, AND AN ARTICLE BY DR. JOHN LOTT PUBLISHED SIX MONTHS AGO - BEFORE THE CRISIS CAME TO A HEAD.]

The Democrats are in full denial mode, but the proof is incontrovertible: THE DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS DIRECTLY CAUSED THE TWO BIGGEST CRISES THE NATION NOW FACES.

VOTE ACCORDINGLY.