Recessions always need a political fall guy. In Ontario in the nineties, the fall guy was the NDP government, and that was a huge contributing factor to what happened last night; Ontario still hasn't forgiven him. Meanwhile, the Conservative who followed him during better times did far more long-term damage and does not enjoy the same collective "never again" response in popular thought. In fact, the most likely next government for Ontario is the Conservatives, a little further to the right than they were under Mike Harris (and they were pretty far to the right then. He would have happily pulled a Wisconsin on teachers, and tried.)
Obama's going to be the fall guy for the current recession, though the blame lies far more with more Republican economic policies that predated him by decades, just like Harper benefited from the Liberals' ability to keep bank regulations in place against an onslaught of lobbyists - he was elected on "sound financial management," though he went from a surplus to a record deficit in five years.
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Date: 2011-05-03 03:50 pm (UTC)Obama's going to be the fall guy for the current recession, though the blame lies far more with more Republican economic policies that predated him by decades, just like Harper benefited from the Liberals' ability to keep bank regulations in place against an onslaught of lobbyists - he was elected on "sound financial management," though he went from a surplus to a record deficit in five years.