Look up Bourbon Democrat sometime.
Anyway, were I American, I would probably be a Republican-leaning independent, depending on what the major issues of the time are (I liked the Democrats a bit more pre-2008, when the Republicans were just Democrats with more wars).
Because the bailouts/buyouts resulted in a massive misallocation of resources. The auto industry bailouts weren't as bad as the bank bailouts, but all they have done is allow poor auto companies to prosper while productive and efficient ones are punished (Case in point, Ford came out of the recession okay and didn't require a bailout, but GM and Chrysler did and thus the worse companies are getting the advantages).
I wasn't expecting that much, honestly, but I figured that at least there wouldn't be more wars and no cuts to military spending. I thought Obama might be better than Bush but it looks like I was very, very wrong.
Had the US dealt with the recession by giving out no bailouts, no Fed interventions, no FX interventions, and spending/tax cuts (though those would be optional they would be helpful), it would have lasted maybe half a year to a year longer, been a bit harsher, and followed by robust growth and a real recovery.
As it is now, the US has:
-Severely damaged the value of its currency
-Prevented better companies from acquiring the assets of the bloated banks that were bailed out
-Gone trillions of dollars into debt and lost its AAA rating with S&P
In exchange for:
-A recession that lasted about a year
-A recovery that was entirely fake, sluggish even in appearance, and fueled by easy credit
-Another recession that is literally right around the corner.
It is debatable as to which will happen. One could make a reasonable argument for each. On one hand, certain commodities are rising in price very quickly, which would indicate hyperinflation. On the other, the stock market's current state would indicate deflation or a depression.
No, hyperinflation and stagflation are entirely different. Hyperinflation is Zimbabwe a year ago, Germany in the 20s. Money becoming worthless, collapse of the currency, big problems for the world (if the US dollar loses value, it will really screw up the world economy). Stagflation is the US in the 1970s. Inflation on the rise, yet no growth that is supposed to accompany it.
