And now

And now, after nearly 8 years of President Bush's administration with Dick Cheney and their deregulation efforts, which was done with the help of the Republican-controlled Congress and wimpy Democrat-controlled Congress, the proverbial chickens have come home to roost. And now Bush is being Chicken Little, citing the disaster if we don't bailout the financial services sector and companies from their fraud and greed.

And now we know what Bush was really about, driving this country into the ground for the profit of corporations, first with the Iraq/Afghanistan carpet bagging companies defrauding the government with no-bid contracts for billions and the security companies ruining the reputation of America and the military running amuck in Iraq with no worry of liability or prosecution, ad second with Cheney's Energy policy and task force which we'll never know because he had his staff destroy the records in violation of the law preserving documents.

And now the economy, or the financial services companies. The truth is that neither he or Cheney believed in their job as President and Vice President, respectively. The truth is that they simply used it for an agenda to benefit (rich and corporate) friends, corporations and lobbyists. And we wrote the checks.

And now the next President will have the unfortunate job of telling the American people the truth, about the reality of the world, this country, our economy, and the Bush Administration itself. They'll be the messenger of the worst news imaginable in our history outside of the Civil War. And in 2012, if things don't improve beyond the barest expectations of Americans, he'll be another first term President.

I once read that it takes 2-4 years for the delayed effects of any president to be felt throughout the economy and that first term of a President is always reacting and fixing those problems. And the second term, if they're re-elected, is creating his/her own problems for that term and the next President. So, that said, look what Bush wrought on the economy and the American people.

He and his administration, with VP Cheney, spent the frst few years setting the stage and the rest creating a new military-corporate complex Eisenhower warned us about fifty years ago. He was so right. Our Defense spending hasn't decreased in over a decades, always going up beyond inflation, and Defense purchases, separate from their operation budget, also keeps going up for new weapons programs.

And the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan isn't costing just the expenditures defined in the war appropriations funding, but over twice because that only includes the actual operations. The rest, such as equipment, contracts, Iraqi government support, etc. are all extra in the Defense budget. They do this to hide the real total cost of the war. And don't forget the VA assumes the costs of the injured and disabled.

And the Homeland Security Administration budget also has never decrreased, and we're getting even less for it than Defense. We're no safer and HSA keeps chasing corporate technology as the answer to our security. And it's not working, especially for the huge price tags the government is freely spending. Our money treating us as suspects and terrorists. They've sold us fear and we're writing the checks.

And now this is where we are as a country, and to ensure we stay here, the republicans are selling us fear with McCain and Palin. If you thought Bush and Cheney were the worst President and Vice President in history, McCain and Palin can be worse. Neither are as smart as Cheney, but both are equally focused and reckless. They can't fix the economy or our problems because they don't want to fix them.

And now we're facing a real decision, "stay the course" or "vote for change." The former is known and the latter isn't, and now you have to decide, fear or unknown.