Mr. Elder once again has set himself to the task of misleading the American public on the reality of the 20+ years of Republican policies across a wide spectrum of issues.
On the economy--yes, there was growth over the last 7 years==but how and at what cost? Some facts tell a much different story than that presented in Mr. Elder's tripe--
From the beginning of the Reagan years the GOP adopted the discredited policies of the Harding/Coolidge/Hoover years--and got the same results that this country saw from the turn of the century through 1929===growth based on reckless de-regulation of industry and the extraordinary financial bubbles that accompany short sighted, greedy speculative activity instead of considererd and responsible stewardship of the economy.
Far from inheriting an economy headed for recession, Mr. Bush inherited an economy so strong that he used the budget surpluses as the administration's principle rationale for "giving back the excessive taxes to the people who sent the money here"---Never mind reducing the debt of the treasury, Never mind salting away some funds for a rainy day, Never mind investing in the nation's crumbling infrastructure---in their minds, money only belonged in the hands of private enterprise--there was no legitimate role for government beyond the DOD.
So, todays problems are the same problems we faced at the end of the 1920's--De-regualted capitalism quickly fed the greed of the rich to morph them into predatory capitalists--if there are no consequences financial or legal for malfeasance then why play fair? Coupled to this historical repeat was a single new concept--that concept championed by the Karl Rove/GWBush wing of the body politic and eagerly embraced by the GOP of the rejection of study. planning and careful factual analysis in favor of rugged individual insight and gut instinct--that is to say "ignorance good, intelligence bad" and NO Nuance Nerds Needed. The two concepts became the recipe for the economic and foreign policy destruction engendered by this administration--and now fully embraced by the McCain/Palin campaign.
Got no foreign policy knowledge, credentials or experience (not even a passport?)--Just stand on an island mountain and view the Russian peninsula--and **poof** you have instant, unique knowledge of russian policy; want to increase the GDP? De-regulate the investment banks and stand by idly at the Federal Reserve while Predatory greed merchants find ways to decieve investors into buying sub-par mortgages by packaging them into massive, impossible to review bundles--then when the bubble bursts make the government bail you out with taxpayer dollars because your survival is judged too important to the economy at large to allow your business to suffer the effects of your unethical and stupid practices.
That is to say, Privatize profits and Socialize losses--then blame the Liberals because you rejected their guidance and screwed the economic pooch--all the while making the American people pay the price of this new "Republican Socialism". Now when Obama says "lets make the rich pay their share" the Elders and the Roves of the world cry "liberal class warfare"-but the real war of the classes was won years ago in the Regan administration when the GOP triumphed over truth with lies and the discredited Republican Socialism that Obama would reverse. The McCain/Elder/W Bush camp will say-- Never mind the fact that the richest of the rich pay less than 15% of their income in federal tax, while the rest of us pay between 29 and 38%--that's just those Nuance Nerds again--trying to confuse us with facts; quick run a tv ad that calls obama a tax raiser and have Larry run a piece in support of it-- full of lies that's true--but we can't let American Voters know that the programs detailed by Obama REDUCE taxes for 95% of American families--and only increase taxes on those earning more than 250,000 per year.
Mr. Elder has much to say in defense of these policies--all of it nonsense. We learned in 1929 the results of the "Trickle Down" economic model...and paid for it's stupidity for 20 years in depression and suffering for all Americans because of the greed and foolishness of the few.
We learned in the pre-wwII era the folly of thinking that the size and dominance of any empire can allow a nation to squander it's advantages through faulty alliances and far flung efforts at influence and forced changes of other cultures. You need only study the fall of the British empire to understand the costs of allowing unthinking belief in the dominance of a culture to make a government believe that it can substitute macho foreign adventurism for measured and intelligent diplomacy.
Mr Elder needs to go back to school and read history with a view to understanding it as it is --not as he wishes it was. Similarly, he needs to garner facts for his articles, rather than Republican talking points...but he won't--because he is not a journalist--he is a GOP puppet.

Re: Bruce Stone
Mr. Stone has let his emotions cloud his thinking. He must also be a fan of stick it to the "rich". Now think with a brain. Who employs people, who makes jobs, who builds the business in the US. Not the low income but the wealthy. And Mr. Stone is wrong on the % of wealthy taxes. Spit out numbers and tell lies, thats the same thing the media does, thinking everyone will drink up anything against the upperclass. If you want the truth find the facts, don't listen to hate form the likes of Mr. Stone.
Mr. Elder was right on the money, check the facts of what he said, he put it plain without emotion.

Mr. Stone, seems you had a lot to say at 6:00 AM. Hopefully you weren't up all night composing that post. First of all, your post is well presented. That's unusual for a liberal. Sadly, you fall into the same trap as every other liberal, namely labeling anyone who does not agree with you as a puppet or a liar or the like. Have you no tolerance for views different from your own? Is it even REMOTELY possible that there can be people who do not think like you think, and they're not sellouts or stooges or hacks or any other such thing? Just a few things you should consider. you cannot raise taxes on "only the wealthy". Except for sports figures, almost nobody making 250k/yr gets a regular paycheck that you liberals can ravage at will. These folks usually have businesses. When you raise taxes on these people, they pass it on to the business and their clients in the way of higher prices and fees charged. They cut back on growing their businesses and hiring people. As far as people whining about the "rich" only paying 15% of their money in taxes, 15% of a million is more than even 50% of $50k. Surprisingly, I actually agree with you on one thing. It is not right for the taxpayers to bail out corporations that make foolish investments. I'm glad the feds passed on bailing out Solomon Bros. I hope that's a sign of things to come, and something McCain has said he will do. That should send a clear message to industry that they will be held accountable by the new sheriff in town.

Re: Sean, re-read your post, in your 4th sentence starting with "Who", remove "employs", "makes", "builds", and insert the word "controls". It will give you another perspective. You sometimes actually have to live a situation before you recognize it for what it is. The truth is those with the money, the wealthy, have the power. We all know and accept this. Unfortunately, they also proved power corrupts as the very wealthy have allowed their greed to run rampant and created a global economic crisis which I don't see improving anytime soon. You see, everyone's vision and emotions are clouded from their thinking, yours included. It is a sorry state of affairs and I do not criticize or judge your perspective.
Mr. Bruce Stone: I wholeheartedly agree with your perspective, it is emotional, but speaks to the truth of the situation as I understand it.