I don’t always agree with Phil Jones, but I certainly disagree with my friend Bob Holcomb’s take on history. Bob claims that it was Reagan’s policies of cutting taxes and dismantling government regulations that led to a booming economy from 1990 to 2008 (“18 years after [Reagan] left office.”) Bob says that “Reagan also brought back respect for America; something that has been sorely lacking under the obama/clinton doctrine.” (Not even Wikipedia can explain what that means.) Obama’s stated goals were to end war in Iraq, fight al-Queda and the Taliban, secure nuclear weapons, achieve energy security and rebuild alliances with our allies.
Lest we forget, the disastrous eight years of Republican Bush, Jr. ended with a housing and financial crash resulting in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, not to mention the highly critical world view of our nation. I would not be so quick to condemn President Obama’s love of country and respect for our Constitution. The USA is in a much better position for the middle class, of which Bob and I are members, than it was in 2008. In one way or another most Americans have benefited from globalization and connection with the rest of the world.
The four years under Bush Sr. brought us the savings and loan crisis, along with stock market crash and recession of 1991. Inflation was so bad the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to 8% in the early 90s. After 12 years of Republicans in the White House, Bill Clinton brought eight years of strong growth and low unemployment. While I personally do not believe that Hillary was the right candidate for the Democratic party during this election and I did not vote for her in the primary, she was fully qualified to sit as president. The fact that Trump may not have smoked marijuana and reads the Bible does not make him capable of sitting in the Oval Office. This does not make me a stupid idiot, Bob, nor does it make you one for supporting him. My prayer is that God save our country from Donald Trump.
Pamela Nelson, Buda
