<Economists however have long measured recessions as beginning with two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. By this long time standard the current recession began in the 3rd quarter '91.

First of all, I think you meant 2001, not 1991. If the recession began in 1991, then there were no "Clinton Boom Years" that Democrats love to talk about so much.

There is more than one reason for the down turn, but clearly Bush busting the budget caps sky high is one major reason investors have lost confidence.

Oh, busting those budget caps was all Bush's fault, was it? None of the Democrat (or Republican) pork spending had anything to do with it? None of the increased spending for the war on terrorism had anything to do with it? The fact is that both parties have pushed for increased spending at a frantic rate in the past few years. Bush's tax cuts have barely taken effect, so that alone can hardly explain the deficit.

The moment those planes slammed into the WTC, both parties knew the caps were gone. They fell all over themselves increasing spending. Look at the huge Farm Bill as but one example. Last May, Daschel told Tim Russert on Meet the Press that the Farm Bill was so large because it combined emergency relief into the bill instead of depending on supplemental spending. So what happened? The Congress passed another $6 billion in drought relief this year on top of the Farm Bill. Bush had said the relief was in the Farm Bill, only to get bashed for not supporting farmers. That's how political hardball is played, especially in an election year. Another example was how both sides were falling all over themselves to offer prescription drug coverage to senior citizens. No one seemed too worried about how they were going to pay for that.

I think most investors have lost confidence because they're seeing corporate profitability as being down or nonexistant. They hear of corporate downsizing and bankrupsies and worry about their jobs. They see the value of their portfolios and their net worth dropping month after month. None of that is caused by government busting the budget caps. None of that will be eliminated by dropping the tax cuts. No nation ever taxed its way into prosperity.