Passing the Torch from Bush to Obama

Eight years ago, "The Onion", a web site that publishes tongue in cheek fake news articles, had a hilarious - and extremely accurate - prediction of what Mr. Bush would bring onto the nation.
Some highlights:

During the 40-minute speech, Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years.

"Under Bush, we can all look forward to military aggression, deregulation of dangerous, greedy industries, and the defunding of vital domestic social-service programs upon which millions depend. Mercifully, we can now say goodbye to the awful nightmare that was Clinton's America."

"Much work lies ahead of us: The gap between the rich and the poor may be wide, be there's much more widening left to do. We must squander our nation's hard-won budget surplus on tax breaks for the wealthiest 15 percent. And, on the foreign front, we must find an enemy and defeat it."

On the economic side, Bush vowed to bring back economic stagnation by implementing substantial tax cuts, which would lead to a recession, which would necessitate a tax hike, which would lead to a drop in consumer spending, which would lead to layoffs, which would deepen the recession even further.

The onion got the last one wrong, not a recession, but a depression. And Obama will be hard pressed to not increase taxes as this nation faces spending over 2 trillion of debt in 2009 alone. The US total outstanding debt from the start of the nation to 2000 was 5.5 trillion. That's a striking change.

I hope the Onion publishes a spoof article on Obama, so we can gain some insight of what we all face in 2009.

Unfortunately, I do not believe in Obama's massive debt plans. But to his credit, after 8 years of corruption and fraud, he is going to try to soften the blow of the worst economic depression this nation and the world will since WWII.

I can't see how reality of math can be avoided, and Obama will take the hit for what Americans willfully decided twice create this situation. I for one will continue to prepare for what looks like the inevitable bankruptcy of the US government and world banks.