Every success achieved by a Republican president is due solely to his own policies. Every failure is due solely to the previous Democratic president. Every success achieved by a Democratic president is due solely to the Republican who preceded him. Every failure is due to his own policies.

This has been the ruling Republican philosophy for the last 30 years. It started when Ronald Reagan ran on the platform that a $1 trillion debt (actually $908 billion) was too high. When Reagan left office, the debt had tripled to $2.8 trillion. When GHW Bush left, it was $4.4 trillion. Whose fault was that? Carter's, of course.

Under Clinton, the debt grew by $1.4 trillion. When George W. Bush came into office, the debt was $5.8 trillion; when he left, it had nearly doubled to over $11 trillion. Clearly, Clinton is to blame for our shocking debt.

Another classic incident of blame was the Ruby Ridge tragedy. Conservatives have blamed this on Clinton for years. Ruby Ridge happened in August 1992. Who was president then? So obviously, it's Clinton's fault.

When Bill Clinton became president, the country was in a recession, with unemployment at 7.5 percent. In eight years, Clinton revitalized the economy and created a total of 23 million net new jobs. Unemployment hit a low of 4.2 percent. The federal budget was balanced, and we actually had a surplus. Who got the credit for this turnaround? Reagan, of course.

When GW Bush came into office, the U.S. was in a mild recession, so he dropped the top tax rate from Clinton's 39.6 percent to 35 percent, claiming this would stimulate the economy. At the end of eight years, the U.S. was in the worst recession since the 1930s, unemployment was at 7.2 percent, and a total of maybe 1 million net new jobs had been created (estimates vary).

The recession started in December 2007, and the housing market collapsed in 2008, creating widespread economic failures. Whose fault was this? Not only Clinton's, but Carter's as well. Republican commentators blamed the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act. Even though Carter had been out of office for 27 years, and Clinton for seven, they were clearly to blame. Bush was a helpless victim.

On Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. suffered the worst terrorist attack ever on American soil. From the beginning, Republicans blamed Clinton. A year later, on September 9, 2002, Pat Buchanan verbalized this blame, as have countless Republican analysts. Even though Bush was warned ahead of time, the blame was placed elsewhere.

In 2005, problems with North Korea resulted in our ending diplomatic relations with that country. On Feb. 10, 2005, Sean Hannity laid the blame clearly at Clinton's feet.

In 2008, when Wall Street was on the verge of collapse, the Toxic Assets Relief Program was passed, providing $700 billion for bailouts. The program is credited with preventing a second Great Depression, and most of the money has been repaid. But who is blamed for this massive government bailout? Obama, of course.

Obama has now been in office for 18 months. He inherited a huge mess, but if anyone tries to trace these problems back to Bush, they are ridiculed by the Republicans. Over 20 years, Republican presidents added over $9 trillion to the national debt. They deregulated everything they could, choosing not to fix laws they later said were flawed. Now, Republicans blame Obama for everything. And if it isn't his fault, it must be Clinton, or Carter. Republicans have perfected the art of portraying themselves as helpless victims, who nevertheless claim to be ready to run the country again.

So, to make everyone happy, in his first few months in office Obama should have done the following: Ended the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, leaving behind secure democratic governments and flourishing economies. Settled the Israeli-Palestinian issue, assuring Israel of total security while giving the Palestinians total self-determination. Balanced the budget, while giving more tax cuts, spending more on defense, and keeping all essential services. Turned the stock market around, while letting Wall Street regulate itself. Cut foreclosures down to zero, while letting the banks regulate themselves. Fixed the health care system, including Medicare, keeping costs down, while letting the insurance companies regulate themselves.

Removed all illegal aliens, while securing the borders. Made sure unemployment dropped to zero, with well-paid jobs and good benefits for everyone. Made sure the BP oil spill never happened. Fixed all the other problems we face.

Then George Bush could take all the credit.

Jeanette Strong's column appears every other Sunday in the LVN