Before There Was Dubya

Trey Smith

For it was under Bill Clinton, as we know, that Glass-Steagall was eviscerated; under Bill Clinton that the Commodity Futures Modernization Act was passed to open the door for the frauds of the derivatives markets; under Bill Clinton that more deregulation of the corporatocracy, more mergers and acquisitions, more centralization of power in fewer corporate hands, was achieved than under any previous modern president. And with that centralization of power, the corporatocracy during the 1990s secured its death-grip on the Democratic Party, with Clinton presiding over the corpse with his saxophone and smile. And no party was then left to oppose big money.
~ from Obomney vs. Romobama by Christopher Ketcham ~

One of the big talking points of Obama supporters is that Dubya left such a mess and, for this reason, our sitting president can't be blamed for much of the financial debacle of the last 4 years. I won't disagree that there is some truth to this rationale. Dubya left the country in such a bad way that it would be unrealistic to expect anyone completely to right the ship in four short years.

That said, this rationale leaves out one key factor. Dubya was able to do what he did because of his predecessor -- Bill Clinton -- and the ever malleable Democratic Party. Clinton set the table for Bush to eat at and Dubya gorged himself at the buffet!

So, while Mr. Bush bears a lot of responsibility for the mess Obama inherited, Dubya wouldn't have been able to mess so many things up without a huge helping hand from Bill Clinton.

And who has been one of the biggest Democratic Party personalities stumping for Obama? Why it's Bill Clinton himself!

You see, what goes around, comes around.