As I’m sure everybody by now is aware, our country is facing some serious challenges and we all are finding ourselves in some seriously troubled economic times.  It could not come at a more infelicitous time with the presidential election drawing near.  We’ve all been hearing the presidential candidates on both sides of the fence use the current situtation as gold-plated ammunition against the other.  With the failure of the passage of the infamous “bailout bill” in the house just a few days ago, we have found our representatives and senators hopping on the bandwagon and pointing fingers.  The Republicans blamed Nancy Pelosi’s speech, saying nothing more than it hurt their feelings.  The Democrats are blaming the indecisive leadership of President Bush.  What neither of these parties realize is that this has been an economic time-bomb that was set up over a decade ago, and both parties are equally to blame for it.

What the common man probably does not realize, and what the politicians have readily forgot, is that the root cause of this crisis was legislation set forth in the 90’s and whose roots can be tied all the way down to the Carter administration.  During the Clinton administration, Fannie Mae was investigated by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Andrew Cuomo, for racial descrimination.  His proposal was to bring forth a sort of “affirmative action” legislation in the financial sector – more specifically loans and mortgages.  Furthermore, fearing a slieu of lawsuits would insue as a result of the investigation, the Federal Reserve backed by the Clinton administration demanded that banks consider welfare payments as an income stream equal to that of a salaried paycheck.  Banks were no longer allowed to solely consider traditional criteria for loans and mortgages, such as an applicant’s credit worthiness, steady income stream, and the ability to make a down payment.  Ann Coulter said that “banks were encouraged to consider nontraditional measures of credit-worthiness, such as having a good jump shot or having a missing child named ‘Caylee.’”

As the reign of Bill Clinton began to wind down, in 1999 they were wearing the fact that they extended affirmative action to the financial sector like a badge.  Boasting that “black and Latino homeownership [had] surged to the highest level ever recorded.”  In fact, many newspapers, such as the Los Angeles Times, referred to the administration’s affirmative action lending policies as one of Bill’s “hidden success stories.”  In the meantime, economists were livid, screaming that as soon as the housing boom began to decline, these loans that lenders were forced to issue would begin to fail as deadbeat borrowers would fail to make their payments.

Nearly a decade later, the housing boom began to slow, and the ticking time bomb has gone off.  Now I am not blaming the affirmative action lending legislation on the Democrats alone.  In Washington, just like everywhere else, it takes two to tango.  The Republicans had a hand in passing these policies through, and allowing it to happen.  People need to realize these facts, realize that both the Republicans and the Democrats are equally responsible for this problem, and demand change.

What sort of change am I suggesting?  Change that does not include the words “Republican” or “Democrat.”  What this country needs is a third-party candidate to take the presidency and send a clear-cut message to Washington that the American people are fed up with the “business as usual” that we have seen from our politicians time and time again.  Now to those of you who do not believe in a third-party candidate, those who think that they’re unfit to do the job or can’t do it as well, you’re forgetting one thing:  President Abraham Lincoln was a third-party candidate.  In fact, he was the first Republican to ever take office.  Back then, the Republican party was just another third-party, not unlike today’s Constitution, Libertarian, or Green Parties.

So to each and every voting American who reads this, I emplore you – do the right thing come election day.  Tell Washington and Capitol Hill that you’ve had enough.  Don’t go Republican or Democrat – vote third-party.