Geithner blames budget woes on Bush administration

[UpInArms]

Source: Reuters via Yahoo!

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Wednesday blamed soaring budget deficits partly on failure by the former Bush administration to make needed investments in energy security and healthcare.

"We begin our time in office after a long period in which our government was unwilling to make the long-term investments required to meet critical challenges in health care, energy and education," he said in prepared remarks to the Senate Finance Committee.

The Obama administration is projecting a deficit of $1.8 trillion, or 12.3 percent of gross domestic product, in fiscal 2009, which ends September 30. Geithner said $1.3 trillion of that total was inherited from the Bush administration.

Most of his testimony echoed remarks he delivered on Tuesday to the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090304/bs_nm/us_financial_geithner

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. Straight outta the NS file.

[AndyA]

2. I'm glad to hear people are finally exposing the Bush years for what they were.

A time of gross negligence, irresponsibility, greed, corruption, and cronyism.

Bush ignored everything that didn't put money in his cronies' pockets. And like a car with a squeak in the front end, it will still go and operate as expected, but if you ignore it long enough, something else wears out and eventually fails. Then it's more expensive to fix than if you'd just taken care of it at the first sign of a problem.

America has been neglected for 8 years. We have 8 years of past due maintenance to make up for, plus.

[Abq_Sarah]

7. America has been neglected for a hell of a lot longer than 8 years

We could have been spending the money to improve infrastructure in the 80's and 90's as well but we didn't, did we?

I blame every single President and Congress for the last 30+ years for allowing this to happen.

[AndyA]

9. I'm sure if you wanted to, you could go all the way back to Washington,

and say the same thing.

I think Bush II has been the absolute worst.

[devilgrrl]

3. As he should! Because the BFEE is responsible for the sorry state of the economy!

eom

[xchrom]

4. recommend

[goforit]

5. Bush should be arrested for the treasonist act of destroying America!

[Cha]

6. Good..don't mince

fucking words.

[Tansy_Gold]

8. Why is this in LBN? Oh, because *Timmy* says so? Sorry, old news.

NFS, for sure.


:hi:

[No Elephants]

10. Not only the Bush Adminstration. Reagan did a lot of damage, too. And even

Big Dog helped re: Glass Steagall.