I am grateful for Herb Harris’ 10/4 letter to the Daily Interlake, “Congress Got us Here in First Place, so Why Should they Bail us Out Now?” What a great summary of the true cause of the current financial crisis—government forced social engineering by a Democrat-majority Congress under a Democrat President. What a rebuke to those lying politicians and media moguls that blame the Bush administration.

      His letter describes the sequence of events that brought us down after President Clinton in 1999 repealed a law that had previously protected our economy from lenders granting loans to unqualified people.

      The same 10/4 DI paper contained two revealing bailout AP articles that dovetail with the affirmative action lending starting 1999. Some Montanan’s may have been pleased when they read the article about the bailout benefiting western states due to a timber provision inserted as a “a sweetener to attract more votes for the bailout bill.” But what does that tell you about our representatives who sought the sweetening? Did Montanan’s feel the same joy when they read members of the Congressional Black Congress were willing to sign the bailout bill after Barack Obama made a commitment to them to “back legislation to help struggling consumers and homeowners facing foreclosures” if he becomes president. One caucus member said of Obama, “It’s not too often you get the future president telling you that his priority matches your priority. As with the destructive law repealed in 1999, this bailout bill is being used by our representatives to support their own pet interests and get votes of their constituents, at dire cost to this nation.

      Hopefully the public will absorb the information contained in Mr. Harris’ letter and recognize the sham perpetrated by Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and others who blame our current economic crisis on a Republican administration and Republican based economic policies. While there was collusion by some Republicans, they were going against their party’s philosophy by doing so. Only the party that supports big government and the welfare state could have gotten this style of catastrophe rolling. And Barack Obama, with his involvement with ACORN, was right in the thick of it.

      Republicans have been sounding the alarm for some years now. In 2005, John McCain and two others sponsored a Fannie/Freddie reform bill and said, “If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie May and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system and the economy as a whole.” The bill went nowhere, largely due to resistance from powerful Democrats who are now blaming Republicans..

      Though currently a conservative Republican, I was raised/groomed to be a liberal Democrat, one who would still today consider it a great statement about the well-being and healing of our nation if we elected an African American for president. I object to this particular one, Barack Obama, and the current leaders of both parties that stand for corruption as usual and selling out of the American people.

Annie Bukacek MD