Greenspan Unloads

By Anthony M. Freed

The New York Times took the time out to visit the elderly and ended up getting an ear full from former bubble manufacturer extraordinaire Alan Greenspan.  I guess it’s time he (re)set the record straight.

“In an interview timed with the release of his memoir Monday, Mr. Greenspan sought to distance himself from the economic policies of President Bush and refute critics who say his policies at the Fed contributed to the housing bubble and bust that is now roiling the economy.

Mr. Greenspan unleashed bottled-up frustration about President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Republican leaders in Congress who, he contends, put politics ahead of Republican goals like fiscal discipline and lower government spending.

‘I’m just very disappointed,” he said glumly, as he sat in his living room. “Smaller government, lower spending, lower taxes, less regulation — they had the resources to do it, they had the knowledge to do it, they had the political majorities to do it. And they didn’t.’

In the end, he said, “political control trumped policy, and they achieved neither political control nor policy.”

Yep, that’s true.  Looks like you are off the hook, you lucky SOB…