I saw a feature writer column in today's (Jan. 1) paper titled "2008 Democracy Recession." I thought our present recession was caused by the hatred of the Democrats for George W. Bush. Bush told Congress in 2002 that the lack of regulatory restraint on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was a potential problem that would cause strong repercussions in the financial markets. Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Charles Schumer brushed him off and paid no heed. Then in 2005, Alan Greenspan told Congress to enable these institutions to increase in size, "Would place the total financial system of the future at a substantial risk." Even Sen. McCain, in 2005, said on the Senate floor that these institutions needed to be reformed. However the Democrats' bias toward Bush resulted in no action. ...more

January 3, 2009