Bin Laden Getting the Last Laugh?

Say what you will about Bill Clinton's presidency, he managed to leave us with a budget surplus so flush that it was expected that by 2009 we would have no debt whatsoever. Since then, and more particularly as a result of George Bush' election and the attacks of September 11, 2001, that surplus has not only been squandered, but we have been driven to a multiple-trillion dollar deficit that has left us virtually unable to pay to run the government without help from the Chinese and Saudis. It is a popular notion, driven by Tea Party extremists (and their lackies in the more mainstream Republican party) that our current economic and political morass is the result of unrestrained spending by Barack Obama. Nothing could be further from the truth. Putting aside recriminations about Bush' negligence in committing us to an unnecessary war in Iraq, that venture, waged in purported response to the attacks of September 11th, started us on this inexorable march toward economic and political ruin that now consumes the nation. Viewing the surplus as a blank check, the Bush administration poured trillions of dollars into the Iraq war leaving virtually nothing left of the Clinton surplus. Compounding the erosion of our national savings, Bush, riding an early wave of popularity resulting from his "mission accomplished" proclamation, cut off revenues that would have offset the economic erosion he unleashed by enacting severe tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals and the largest corporations and then, of course, doing away with whatever modicum of regulation of the financial markets remained.

The current conflagration, unleashed by Tea Party Republicans, promises to dominate the discussion for months to come. It's roots, however, can clearly be traced to Bin Laden's vision of a smoldering World Trade Center. Congratulations to the Tea Party and it's followers. Even in death, you continue to give life to Bin Laden's goal of bringing the west, and in particular, the United States, to economic ruin. Osama Bin Laden would proud.