I don’t know if Barack Obama will ever fix our economy, especially given the paralyzing partisanship currently afflicting our government, but I do know that Mitt Romney absolutely will not.

This isn’t partisan; it’s history. Romney and his Republican cohorts want to take us back to the days of trickle-down economics in a deregulated business environment. That’s great for the rich and affluent, bad for the rest of us.

Trickle-down sounds nice in theory, but in practice the only wealth trickling down is trickling straight into the pockets of the affluent and wealthy – and staying there. Look to history for guidance. Since Reagan ushered in trickle-down economics, the gap between rich and poor has ballooned to levels not seen since the days of the robber barons, and the middle class has been declining more with each passing year. The only (slight) reversal to that trend occurred during the Clinton years.

Deregulation, a cornerstone of conservative philosophy, is a good idea but it absolutely does not work when done the Republican way, leaving the fox to run the hen house. We saw it in the 1980s with the deregulation of the savings and loan industry, and the latest example with the deregulation of the mortgage industry. We all know where that led.

Historically, most job creation has occurred during Democratic administrations. In fact, roughly twice as many jobs have been created during Democratic administrations in the last 50 years.

The implication is clear. Romney won’t fix our economy; he’ll just make it worse.