Who do you blame more for the current state of the USA RorD

[J88ROCK]

D's leadership who has been in control since 2006 or
the R's who along with most D's agreed to go into Iraq which most will say started the current cluster.

[MickeyG]

You could always blame the electorate. Everyone should refuse to vote, pick up their guns and march on Washington.

[Thrash Gordon]

It doesn't matter if there's a D or an R in front of their name. They're all the same. Crooked. I won't vote party lines, I vote against incumbents.

[lerxstcat]

Politicians don't have that much control over the business cycle. Shit happens no matter who's in power.

[Tommy2Tone84]

D's leadership who has been in control since 2006 or
the R's who along with most D's agreed to go into Iraq which most will say started the current cluster.

Republicans

The Dems agreed to the 2003 invasion but they were leery about it and the Bush administration was looking for ways around getting congressional approval in the months leading up to the invasion. Had he just focused on rebuilding Afghanistan and bringing bin Laden to justice his legacy wouldn't be that bad off.

Lerxstcat is right

[SmokingGun]

Politicians don't have that much control over the business cycle. Shit happens no matter who's in power.

Yes and no. Shutting up local businesses, even if they're just lowly call centers, and shipping the jobs overseas was the fault of politicians. Also, Walmart is China's 6th largest trading partner, larger than most countries. A few guys at the top make a shitload of money, as do some shareholders. Employees get paid next to nothing, countless numbers of mom and pop stores are put out of business because they aren't as efficient as a multinational with billions of dollars, and the population as a whole loses.

An economy cannot simply exist by shuffling money around. Insurance, banking, finance, shares etc are all an essential part of a well functioning country, but you cannot base an entire economy on that.. which is exactly what has happened in the west. And this, IMO is largely to blame for the shitty state we're in. I know it sounds old fashioned, as we have been conditioned to believe the service economy is the way of the future, and manufacturing should be left to Asia on the basis of competitive advantage, which when done right and in a controlled way is a good thing. But it is important to never ignore the fundamentals of an economy, which we did.