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Which party is more responsible for the state economy?

Which party is more responsible for the state of the economy?

  • The Republican Party

    Votes: 33 63.5%

  • The Democratic Party

    Votes: 19 36.5%
  • Total voters
    52
SheWolf

SheWolf

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There is no option for Both Parties, because the question is which party is more responsible for the state of the economy?
 
but there might be an option "none of them"
 
Gotta agree. The government shouldn't be responsible for the economy, and burdening a political party is even worse because it lets the other party spend, spend, spend without restraint.

E.g. Republicans = daddy state, Democrats = mommy state. Should we really need to instill traditional breadwinner roles in light of today's feminism?

Talk about having your cake and eat it too, why don't we just enslave all men while we're at it?
 
Both of these right wing parties are equally responsible...
 
They're both responsible, but the most responsible for the bad economy are the consumers/banks/legislators/etc. involved in the housing bubble.
 
TheDemSocialist said:
Both of these right wing parties are equally responsible...
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I think corporations are responsible. Bad business decisions and we all have to live with them... I like a quote I heard from the movie Capitalism: A True Love Story. This guy said, "I understand bad business decisions were made, but I don't make business decisions. I make windows and doors." :)
 
It's hard to say which one is responsible, since you'd have to account for complex accounting measures spanning the last 50 years or so. In the short term, I'd say the Iraq War, which the Republicans insisted on having, and the Bush tax cuts (which were implemented during a time of war; so much for national sacrifice) has been the biggest drain because it was unnecessary. People may not like the stimulus plan and TARP, but at least there was some rational justification for that. The Iraq war was completely unnecessary and the tax cuts were a disgusting political move.

Don't get me wrong, the Democrats are not blameless in this debacle. But if you are forcing me to choose, I must say the Republicans, in the short-term, have the most responsibility to bear.
 
The current state right now is both. The Republican obstructionism to prevent any improvement in the economy prior to the election next year coupled with the hardening of Democrats to compromise after Obama's rejection is creating a gridlock that is awful for business. How we got here in the first place is more Republican than democrat and more Corporate Idiocy than Republican. And it's more Greenspan's easy money than Corporate idiocy.
 
SheWolf said:
There is no option for Both Parties, because the question is which party is more responsible for the state of the economy?
Click to expand...

Democrat.

With Republican as a close second.
 
"Both" is the only true answer, because in all practical reality, the government is involved so closely and so deeply in the economy that there's no way around it. Both have their own little nuances, but both are beholden to special interests, both tend to vote for the big bills that industry wants (i,e.: Telecommunications Act of 1996, etc.), and so on.
 
radcen said:
"Both" is the only true answer, because in all practical reality, the government is involved so closely and so deeply in the economy that there's no way around it. Both have their own little nuances, but both are beholden to special interests, both tend to vote for the big bills that industry wants (i,e.: Telecommunications Act of 1996, etc.), and so on.
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Both are responsible, but one has to be MORE responsible.. and which one is more responsible is the only true answer, because that's how people are most likely going to vote. This question means a lot in terms of these two parties and their core principles and which of those principles are responsible. They don't need to go back to their party principles, they to reinvent the parties. The public NEEDS to have this conversation.
 
SheWolf said:
Both are responsible, but one has to be MORE responsible.. and which one is more responsible is the only true answer, because that's how people are most likely going to vote. This question means a lot in terms of these two parties and their core principles and which of those principles are responsible. They don't need to go back to their party principles, they to reinvent the parties. The public NEEDS to have this conversation.
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Ok, now I better understand your point and question. My answer was from a long-term perspective, and I think you are asking about the present.

From a long-term perspective, I stand by my answer. Partly because, regardless what each party says, except for some wedge issues, there's really not much difference. They're both beholden to special interests and lobbyists, they both vote for corporate interests (in spite of what they say during campaigns), and so on.

Now, from a present perspective, I'd have to say the Republicans are more responsible... though I might qualify that to mean "responsible for the current state of affairs". I always felt that President Clinton's biggest success in economic matters wasn't what he did, but rather the genius in what he didn't do... meaning he pretty much left things alone and let the economy work on it's own. I sense that the Democrats actually learned a lesson from that and are not as boneheaded about the economy as they had been historically.
 
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I have to say both as well. Bush lowered taxes during the boom and both parties spent too much as well during the boom. Now with deficit being as high as it is, spending to stimulate the economy and keeping taxes low - as Keynesian economics requires - is a much more difficult task. This has resulted in more division in the country, more skepticism from business, and an overall slower recovery.
 
whysoserious said:
I have to say both as well. Bush lowered taxes during the boom and both parties spent too much as well during the boom. Now with deficit being as high as it is, spending to stimulate the economy and keeping taxes low - as Keynesian economics requires - is a much more difficult task. This has resulted in more division in the country, more skepticism from business, and an overall slower recovery.
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Can you name one time Keynesian economics succeeded?

BTW, neocons <<< entire American right.
 
obvious Child said:
The current state right now is both. The Republican obstructionism to prevent any improvement in the economy prior to the election next year coupled with the hardening of Democrats to compromise after Obama's rejection is creating a gridlock that is awful for business. How we got here in the first place is more Republican than democrat and more Corporate Idiocy than Republican. And it's more Greenspan's easy money than Corporate idiocy.
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What did they do, exactly?
 
If I had to pick one as to which had more influence on today's economy through a long term outlook I would say the Republicans. The Republicans created the trickle-down economics that every president since Regan have championed, even when they claimed to be against them (Clinton, Obama) with the Republicans adding to the problems by lowering taxes early on into Bush's presidency which had a great short term economic effect but a very bad long-term that we will probably not recover from for another good while. Since Nixon on down, being nearly every president since Nixon we have been getting cozier and cozier with China and I strongly believe making China a strategic partner has greatly harmed United States.
 
Daktoria said:
Can you name one time Keynesian economics succeeded?

BTW, neocons <<< entire American right.
Click to expand...

Most people argue that the spending and investing required for WWII got us out of the recession. Keynesian economics isn't perfect, but as a former student of economics, many of ideas make a lot of sense.
 
Wilson was the start of the decline with the New Deal and the Great Society accelerating the decline so its the dems most responsible
 
TurtleDude said:
Wilson was the start of the decline with the New Deal and the Great Society accelerating the decline so its the dems most responsible
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The New Deal hurt our economy?
 
TheDemSocialist said:
The New Deal hurt our economy?
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it continued the depression, raped the constitution, and created the foundation for the massive nanny-state nonsense we have today.
 
Funny how one party or the other is blaming each other for causing...yadda, yadda, yadda. But the reality is that only two parties have been running government way before Pillsbury started making biscuits. What's this have to do with the price of tea in China?

What's that old saying?, "If the right one don't get ya...the left one will." When you look at the history of "Composition of Congress" since the beginning...and add whatever party holds the White House - then look at all of the legislation that's created by all of the combinations - then you'll know the truth. The truth is - these parties have us by the balls. They know it. We know it. And life goes on.

Like sex - it takes two to tango. Our government, regardless of the composition, has been tangoing their asses off at our expense. But, we gave them that power.

It's really naive to believe one party or the other has brought us to our nation's woes. They are both guilt as hell. They can't wait for election time to make the voters believe that they made an competent choice. I suggest at election time - Just bend over and beg for the KY Jelly (without the gravel).
 
TurtleDude said:
it continued the depression, raped the constitution, and created the foundation for the massive nanny-state nonsense we have today.
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How did the New Deal continue the depression?
Facts would say no it didnt. Unemployment plumented once the New Deal was initiated.

Employment #'s:

Number unemployed in America:

1929
2.6 million

1933
15 million

1935
11 million

1937
8.3 million

1938
10.5 million

1939
9.2 million

1940
8 million

I dont know how you say that continued the depression?
And how did it tear up the constitution?
 
Daktoria said:
Can you name one time Keynesian economics succeeded?

BTW, neocons <<< entire American right.
Click to expand...

You're kidding me, almost the entire history of modern US economics (meaning post-Depression) consists of Keynesian prescriptions. We don't really have any way to evaluate the alternative (referring to Austrian prescriptions), because they simply haven't really been implemented.
 
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