Our president is underappreciated

Earnest Bracey, Las Vegas

Monday, Jan. 9, 2012 | 2:02 a.m.

Unfortunately, Republicans blame all that is bad or wrong with our country on President Barack Obama, as Gaye McDonald did in a letter to the Las Vegas Sun on Dec. 24. What nonsense. It is absolutely true that Republicans in Congress overall refuse to work with the first African-American president, nor give him the credit he deserves for all the good he has accomplished.

I hope this is not lost on the citizenry. I hope that Americans don’t forget who got us in the financial mess we are in. Hint: It wasn’t President Obama; it happened during the Bush administration. President Obama is only trying to clean up this mess. Things are slowly improving, despite the Tea Party Republicans’ interference and resistance.

Where was the criticism when President George W. Bush lied about WMDs in Iraq, while getting us involved in a war in a country that had nothing to do with 9/11? Bush’s policies emptied our treasury, got Americans killed in Iraq, ran up our debt, and eliminated the surplus. President Obama’s policies have saved jobs and kept us from going into a deeper recession.

Some people will never be convinced that we all should support President Obama, or any liberal president. But McDonald should know that liberal policies and compromise helped build this country, not so much the doctrines of conservatism.