The Republicans got off easy after the crash of 2008...

If there is one glaring mistake that the Democrats made after the banks, the housing market, and the stock market crashed in 2008-09, it was that they did not lay most of the responsibility at the feet of the Republican Party. Now, we are about to see how they lay it at the feet of one Barack Obama.

The Democrats decided there was enough blame to go around and thought they would be able to fix the disaster with bi-partisan help. Man, did they miscalculate!

The opportunity to do something worthwhile was right in front of their noses and they punted. They should have made their case and went to the mat for it. There should have been no call for compromise in the situation we were facing. If nothing had gotten done, we would be about the same place we are today.

It was the time for reform. We passed. We wanted no part of actually fixing the healthcare system that was breaking us. We chose to work with the insurance companies. In the end, we had no Republicans on our side. We got the HCA passed but it could and should have been much better. And it may all be gone by the end of this month?

We had a chance to break up the big banks that were too big to fail They had taken our economy to the brink. In fact, they are still holding the gun to our heads. We had the duty to call for them to be broken up and regulated. But we chose a different strategy. We chose to give them every dollar we could scratch up so they could survive in their present state of greed and gluttony.

The demise of the Glass Steagal Act, along with all the fine print of the international trade treaties, and the criminal activities of those banks that marketed the default swaps with the bad mortgages, and the incompetence and sheer arrogance of the Republicans that doubled our national debt, along with a traitorous Congress, led us to a point of no return.

We should have been willing to fight the long battle. We should still be fighting today if necessary. We had the chance to have the people stand behind us and to define history with a new beginning. But we chose a different way.