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Ex-President Carter Slams Bush on Market Crisis
BRUSSELS - Former President Jimmy Carter said on Friday the "atrocious economic policies" of the Bush administration had caused the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Carter told reporters on a stopover in Brussels that "profligate spending," massive borrowing and dramatic tax cuts since President George W. Bush took office in 2001 were behind the market turmoil and economic crisis.
"I think it's because of the atrocious economic policies of the Bush administration," said the 84-year-old Democrat, who served in the White House from 1977-1981 during a period of high inflation and energy crisis.
Whoever wins next month's U.S. presidential election would inherit economic problems that would force them to postpone implementing some of their proposed reforms, he said.
"The economic situation is an entrenched problem. It is going to take years to correct what has been done economically," Carter said, adding he hoped Democrat Barrack Obama would win and immediately improve Washington's image in the world.
Eight years ago, the United States had a budget surplus, low inflation and a stable, strong economy, he said.
Carter said he was astonished that the United States now owed China "in the neighborhood of $1 trillion."
Deregulation and what he called a withdrawal of supervision of Wall Street had encouraged irresponsible elements in the U.S. financial system, enabling banks to borrow 30 times their value.
Carter was on his way back from a private peace mission to Cyprus with fellow elder statesmen Lakhdar Brahimi of Algeria and Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, intended to give a push to talks between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders on a settlement to reunite the divided island.
Reporting by Paul Taylor; editing by Sami Aboudi
18 Comments so far
Show AllAnybody remember what happened to Mussolini after the Italian population realized that he ran the country into the ground, allowed him and his rich corporate cornies to pocket the money, and to top it all off - the trains still did not run on time?
Oh yeah. One of the advantages of liking to read history is that I know exactly what happened to him. When I start feeling depressed, I even get that image in my head, but with our modern fascists taking his place.
For those who don't know, try http://cidc.library.cornell.edu/DOF/italy/italy.htm for a start. But even that doesn't mention 'meat hooks'.
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"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
www.samsonsworld.blogspot.com
I DO remember, and what they did to Mussolini and his squeeze is MUCH too good for Bush and Cheney.
Everytime I had to stomach a new outrage over the last 8 years from Turdblossom's pile, I would fondly recall the words "CEAUSESCU. MERRY CHRISTMAS and a happier New Year!"
At least someone in the political establishment is willing to speak unflinching truth. Right on, Carter!
"Unflinching"?! How many times has Carter come out with an "atrocious" word to describe Bush/Cheney behavior without attaching it to the impeachment word? How long will Obama let McCain dance circles around him to the tune of his "the surge is a success" song without saying the "atrocious" word and attaching Censure, for the catastrophe that is Iraq/Afghanistan, to it? Carter's words may still stir the pot for some, but for me, unless we're off to build a house somewhere, never mind mention he's coming to town
Givem' hell Jimmy!
Now, now, Rome and the world were not built in a day. They took at least a week -
George Bush will simply refer to his Good Book (ISBN 0-02-686355-3) for the solution...
How can the economy of the U.S. be so far in debt, wall street be so messed up and the common man worry about tomorrow? All the while Bush and his buddies have assets that have grown tremendously since 2001! I may be a simple farmer but nobody needs to spell this one out for me. Jimmy's right it's gonna take a long time to fix.
Go get 'em James, give the Clintons our love!
I wonder if W has heard of Nicolae Ceausescu....
Damn, you beat me to it, though I didn't read this far before I posted. I read oldest threads first. Warms the cockles of our hearts though doesn't it?
It sadly ironic that Jimmy Carter is a much better former President (Habitat for Humanity, the Carter Center) than when he was in the White House.
What about congress and senate while he was in office? What about the christo corps between '77 and '81? Just wondering.
May all Beings be blessed. Specifically the weak and ill minded.
Still time to Impeach
Yup-per,eh. Translation from the Yooper: you got that right!
I too, blame Bush and Cheney for this global economic failure. We are all poorer as a result and Bush-Cheney and friends are weathier than ever. Greed breeds greed. Our standing in the world has been decimated and we are alone now. Hopefully the world can overlook our aloofness and help us work together to solve this crisis.
Certainly, Carter's sentiment is appreciated. He's referring to the deficit spending mostly, I think. However, the Clinton presidency shares blame in deregulating the markets, which is prime cause for the immediate financial collapse. It was Clinton's Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin who worked to get rid to the Glass-Steagall Act, thus helping to trigger this crisis.
Bush's deficit spending is modeled after Reagan's. It works like this: the government is drained of cash, which goes into private hands. The resulting red ink means that the people can't pay for much needed social programs, now or in the future.
Oddly, a certain segment of the U.S. population that votes Republican can't seem to see that both Reagan and Bush were the biggest deficit spenders of all time. What ever happened to their fiscal responsibility plank?
Given that history, one wonders why Obama expressed such praise for Reagan. Voters should ponder what sort of liberal Democrat would make such a fundamental mistake in judgment.
-TIA