Obama’s Inheritance

When speaking to the nation about his budget, President Obama made sure we all remembered that he inherited the deficit. It was not of his own making. Of course this is true, except for the almost trillion dollar spending package, but even that can be argued was the necessary result of previous policies. So I don’t blame Obama for not wanting to take blame for the massive deficit we find ourselves in.

For a few years, the financial policies of the Bush administration seemed to be working. But the seeds of recession, planted long ago, were quietly being cultivated. Then, the weeds sprung up all at once. Now it’s up to Obama to clean it up, and he’s right to remind us that it was not his mess.

But fast forward to today, when President announced his plan to withdrawal troops from Iraq:

The situation in Iraq is the opposite of the situation with our economy. There is no doubt that the Bush administration made mistakes in Iraq. But then we changed course. Bush replaced the leadership and came up with a new plan, and had the audacity to urge us to have more patience with him, our troops, and the Iraqi people. Amid the apparent chaos in Iraq was being sown the seeds of freedom and peace that started to emerge as Bush’s time faded. While I wouldn’t go so far so say that the rose has bloomed, President Obama inherited that bud just as much as he inherited the thorns in the economy.

But did Obama go out of his way to thank President Bush for this inheritance? Did he thank him for sticking up for the plan he knew was best for the nation–the plan that Obama opposed? If he did, wouldn’t that have been a refreshing change from the politics of the past?

He didn’t, but I will. Thank you, President Bush, for giving our troops and the Iraqi people a chance. You left us with plenty of problems to deal with, but I’ll give credit where credit is due.