Thought on the End of the Bush Presidency
I'm still alive. I'm still married. My kids are fed and shod.
I guess that counts for something.
Is it enough to say one survived the absolutely disastrous fiasco that was the Bush Presidency?
I suppose one "conservative" way to look at this is that I managed to keep my life and my family afloat in spite of the Bush government's best efforts to torpedo it.
I'm so glad that Obama will be taking the oath of office in three days. But, damn, Bush left one ginormous heaping pile of excrement to deal with. It would take superman himself a generation to dig us out of that mess. We must always remember that over the next 4-8 years when evaluating Obama. I'm sure Obama will do some great things; but correcting the failures of the past eight years is a miracle that I'm not so sure even Jesus Christ could accomplish.
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8 comments:
Ok, Huck your hyperbolic post is just silly. President Bush's presidency was only a complete fiasco if you're a fiscal conservative. I know you want to believe that because President Bush had a (R) after his name, but in reality, the only (R) policy enacted by President Bush was a strong national defense.
President Bush delivered every leftist's biggest wet dream in the form of TARP and the bailouts. He is leaving President Obama with $350 BILLION -cash; precedent for big government solutions to all socioeconomic problems; government bailouts; and our new societal meme 'too big to fail'.
Not only did he deliver the biggest socialist boondoggle since FDR, he also managed to keep you safe from terrorism -despite being sabotaged by every mainstream media source and most Democrat politicians in the process.
President Bush was also one of the greatest presidential tax dollar donors to humanitarian aid -he gave more aid to Africa than any US President in our history. He took your War On Poverty to a whole 'nuther level...
Domestically, he never vetoed any spending bill and only vetoed a couple of bills in the final half of his second term because they jeopardized our successes in Iraq -despite having parity or Democrat majorities in House and Senate for his entire second term.
I know you're a typical leftist in your BDS and general hatred for everything Bush, but you should realize that he has made the socialization of our country possible and as such, he should be on your greatest heroes list right along side FDR.
Governmental scope and power is at an all time high and all the pieces are in place for President Obama to finish the job and rid us of the necessity of thinking or worrying. Soon, with socialized programs to cover every contingency, we can go through our entire lives without worrying about any responsibilities. The government is already in the business of telling us what we should eat; soon, they'll be able to tell us what we can eat in order to qualify for medical treatment. No more obesity at the cheap price of choice.
Because of President Bush, we now have a centrally planned economy run by the presidential appointee to SecTreas. Viability is no longer a necessity in a business plan, now, if your company is too big to fail, you're a friend of Barney or can otherwise prove need or entitlement status, your business can thrive -regardless of profitability. This should absolutely thrill you. No longer will the unfair measures of ability, hard work and dedication stand in the way of success in America. The vaunted American meritocracy is no longer an obstacle, rather who you know and what you need are now the measures.
You vilify President Bush, yet he came the closest to granting amnesty to every illegal immigrant currently within the borders. He was the main advocate in favor of one of your biggest push-button items and you can't even give him credit for that.
I do love your last sentence, though...the irony is particularly biting Jesus Christ, indeed. Luckily Obama ran as a messiah, so despite your tempering and preemptive excuse making he's pretty much set the bar with his campaign rhetoric and you should hold him to account to effect the 'change' and solve all our woes as he promised.
rather who you know and what you need are now the measures.
I forgot to add: or your cause/intention
simlacre - I'd like to know what is so hyperbolic about my posting? In fact, your whole reaction to my post gives lots of very clear evidence of the "ginormous heapoing pile of excrement" that Bush left us. I couldn't have been more hyperbolic in my criticism of Bush than you are. In addition to the fiscal boondoggle, which I agree with you about (and am even worried about Obama's fiscal plans), I'd list a whole slew of civil liberty matters, too. And I'd include the whole executive privilege, disdain for checks/balances, ideological politicization of the Justice Department, and the legitimization of torture to the list of the excrement of Bush's legacy.
Obama didn't run as a messiah. Conservative painted him as such. Obama ALWAYS said that he could never do things alone and that we needed to be part of the process. He even, unlike any other candidate, admitted that he was sure to make some mistakes along the way. The "Messiah" narrative was one that was cultivated and promoted by conservatives about Obama to caricaturize his ability to inspire. Thoughtful and rational people who evaluate Obama on any objective basis know that this Messiah narrative is a crock of conservative hooey.
Rest assured that I'll hold Obama to account for mismanaging affairs if he does so. My final comment is simply to recognize that, as you so aptly pointed out, the mess Obama has to try to fix is not, and will not be, just of his own making.
Like I said. You have no real reason to look upon President Bush's legacy as a heaping pile of excrement considering the permanent and most damaging things he has done are boons to leftists and will increase the size, scope and power of government. That is the end the left has always worked towards in the development of their Utopian (and fascist) societies. We're going to finally have a 'fair' system and President Bush set that ball in motion for you. That's the foundation of your party and the primary wedge your comrades use to perpetrate class warfare in the pursuit of divisiveness and large aggrieved voting constituencies.
I'd list a whole slew of civil liberty matters, too.
Then, please do! Listening to phone conversations of terrorists? Connecting the dots as he was accused of failing to do in the run up to 9/11? Suspending Habeas Corpus on an American who was plotting with terrorists to blow up bridges in NYC?
And I'd include the whole executive privilege
Are you referring to the constitutional powers granted a president during wartime?
disdain for checks/balances,
like the intelligence oversight committee (which included Pelosi) that the administration advised of the wiretapping program and who made the decision to keep it within the panel because the rest of congress leaks top secret information like sieve?
ideological politicization of the Justice Department,
the justice department serves at the pleasure of the President. Of course its a politicized group!!!!
and the legitimization of torture
nobody legitimized torture. We used water boarding in a few extreme cases and saved American lives in the process. For real torture, please see any nation in the Middle East.
Obama didn't run as a messiah.
Obama ran as the everything to everybody candidate. He deliberately used vague rhetoric to be interpreted differently by different people. I don't think its anybody on the right that's painting the guy naked on unicorns, giving him halos, depicting him walking on water, forming cults around or otherwise deifying the guy...pretty sure the vast majority of those moonbats -like most moonbats- are on your side of the fence.
Rest assured that I'll hold Obama to account for mismanaging affairs if he does so.
You'll have to excuse me if I don't hold my breath...
My final comment is simply to recognize that, as you so aptly pointed out, the mess Obama has to try to fix is not, and will not be, just of his own making.
Obama may not have created the mess, but the ideology he ascribes to is directly responsible for virtually the entire economic fiasco. Fannie, Freddie, are Democrat slush funds that have employed most of the Clinton administration at one time or another. They've been run on a flawed (and failing) business plan since Cuomo promised to use their clout to buy up risky mortgages. They both used operating cash budgets to infuse leftist ideological advocacy groups and failed to cover the faulty investments they were making...
The social engineering projects and experiments of the left have ended in slavery, starvation and total collapse of civilizations and there are always plenty of useful idiots in every fallen society who will happily vote for their demise. We're just 'lucky' enough to live in the era of our nation's suicide -interesting times, indeed.
I guarantee you that you're coming out of Bush's presidency far better than you will Obama's. In fact, I'm truly questioning whether we'll even survive the next four years...based on the course of the first week, it's a valid question in my mind...
I hope you hold onto your hope. That's likely all you'll have left after the Change Obama believes in is enacted. Sadly, if you somehow manage to realize it, it's already too late to do anything about.
(caveat: I think McCain would have done virtually everything Obama did in his first week with the possible exception of using my tax dollars to fund abortions internationally.
simulacre - Who said that fiscal insanity is a boon to leftists or that all liberals think such policies are healthy? I certainly haven't. In fact, I've always worried about the exploding deficit and the fiscal harm that can come with irresponsible "stimulus" or "bailout" programs. So if you are going to criticize me for my comments about the condition of our country's economy that Bush left us, then you ought at least to be honest about whether your criticism of me is valid. Why shouldn't I say that your criticism of Bush is farcical when you voted for the man. Perhaps I should be directing my criticism not at Bush but at those who voted for him, thus giving him a "mandate" for his policies. Perhaps leftists should be thanking you for the "boon" of Bush's ginormous pile of excrement. But that wouldn't be so fair, now, would it? What would be fair would be to take your opinions on their own merit and not as part of some conservative movement that put Bush in power. You could at least give me the same courtesy.
How can you guarantee me that I'll be coming out of the Bush Presidency in far better shape than I will the Obama presidency? That's just irrational speculation. What would you have told me if I said in 2000 to you: I guarantee you we'll come out of the Bush Presidency in much worse shape than the Clinton Presidency. You would have laughed at me. But I would have been right in the end. So save the judgments of the Obama administration for when there is actually something to judge about it.
I wonder, though, simulacre. If you are so hopeless and if the situation is so dire that the end of times will be upon us within four years, what keeps you here?
Let me leave you with one final truth: businesses and markets have, in the aggregate, done better during Democratic Presidential Administrations than Republican ones. There is general data to prove this, but if you were to ask my father who ran his own small electrical contracting business for more than 20 years, he'll say the same and will pull out the income statements and balance sheets to prove it.
Who said that fiscal insanity is a boon to leftists or that all liberals think such policies are healthy?
First, define liberal. If you're defining Liberal as the US political affiliation connotation, then absolutely you should think such policies are beneficial - at least to the 'Liberal' politicians in office and their advocacy groups and lobbyists comprising the rest of the machine. Both the TARP and the new $850B economic recovery plan have all kinds of goodies for ACORN, NARAL, and other leftist institutions and organizations. The infrastructure bailouts all have mandatory 'green' initiatives which raises prices, reduces the quality of construction materials, eliminates competition and makes big-wig, leftists and eco-terrorists like AlGore Rich. There is also massive funding for Global Warming Research -You probably don't see a problem with that and you're in the majority in your hipocracy. Let me explain: The left criticizes 'deniers' because much of the science provided against global warming is being funded by oil, gas and other energy companies that have something to lose at stake. That is seen as a problem by the same people who have no problem with pro-AGW policy makers funding only the research that will support their conclusions, and make their business interests and advocacy groups masquerading as scientists more money.
Bottom line, Read the bills...you should be thrilled. There are lots and lots of handouts and your side's advocacy groups (who produce nothing and are completely worthless as far as I'm concerned) are the biggest beneficiaries.
Liberals, Democrats, Collectivists, Socialists, and Communists all put forward central planning, redistribution of wealth, government controlled production, nationalized finance and Universal health care as central themes in their ideologies. If you ascribe to American 'Liberalism' or European Socialism, then you should recognize the gift President Bush delivered to you and your ideological brethren on a silver platter. He nationalized the banks. Government now has the largest block of shares in banks like Bank of America. That means, the government now sets the policy, selects the board, approves the business plans, etc. The banks controlled by the government will loan money or use money as the government dictates -the entirely left government dictates.
In fact, I've always worried about the exploding deficit
Let me do an the editorial edit for you:
'In fact, I've always worried about the exploding deficit -under a Republican administration.'
I believe that's what you likely meant. Every leftist I know subscribes to Keynesian Theory and the bailouts exemplify that theory.
and the fiscal harm that can come with irresponsible "stimulus" or "bailout" programs.
They're all irresponsible, run counter to capitalist ideals, and do anything, but 'stimulate' the economy.
So if you are going to criticize me for my comments about the condition of our country's economy that Bush left us, then you ought at least to be honest about whether your criticism of me is valid. Why shouldn't I say that your criticism of Bush is farcical when you voted for the man.
He was still better than Kerry and Gore. He at least pursued the WoT staved off a few million abortions, prevented the spread of eugenics for 8 years and successfully liberated Iraq. Combating Radical Islam and trying to prevent the US from becoming another failed socialist state were the reasons I voted for Bush. I'd rather not live like the Israelis -under constant attack- or like the French -unemployed and under assault. Though I think what we have both to look forward to in the not too distant future, at least it was delayed a bit so I could get myself and my family more prepared for that day.
Perhaps I should be directing my criticism not at Bush but at those who voted for him, thus giving him a "mandate" for his policies.
Go for it. 'Blame' anyone you want, but you should actually be thanking Bush and those who put him in office as they literally have delivered everything your party could possibly want. You really should be thrilled. Your party has control of every branch of government and aside from abortion, has ideological control of the Republican party as well. There is nothing in sight that will stop the US slide left and it should, in fact, speed up once more people are removed from the tax pool and millions of uneducated poor are granted suffrage.
We will be a fully fledged socialist country by the end of Obama's presidency and that's that. With entertainment media, pop culture, MSM news media, the executive branch, the Legislative branch and Judicial branch firmly under leftist control, there is no stopping the march towards a leftist totalitarian state as depicted in 1984.
Perhaps leftists should be thanking you for the "boon" of Bush's ginormous pile of excrement.
Many have realized what happened with TARP and are (with tongue in cheek) thanking Bush. They're still calling the guy Hitler -true, but all in all, your ideologues have to be tickled pink(o). They got everything they could want and had have Republicans initiating the moves and offering cover! I'm looking for an article I read from the World Socialists Party US that referenced the party leaders (who were against the bailout before they were for it) rejoicing, but its been wiped from their website...If I find it again, I'll be sure to forward to you...it's very enlightening and tragically funny from my perspective!
But that wouldn't be so fair, now, would it? What would be fair would be to take your opinions on their own merit and not as part of some conservative movement that put Bush in power. You could at least give me the same courtesy.
Maybe I'm too black and white, but I don't understand what you're getting at. Bush called himself a compassionate conservative. I don't know what that means either, but I know that he was in favor of tax cuts, keeping America safe, billions of dollars in new domestic spending programs, billions of dollars in foreign aid, hard lines drawn in the sand in facing radical Islam, and in favor of legalizing 30 million illegal immigrants... Overall, Bush was about as conservative as JFK. It's funny that he spent as much or more than most Democrat administrations on Democrat boondoggle programs and yet is still the most vilified President by the left -goes to show you the power of a meme and 8 years of daily vilification. I think it just hasn't sunk in yet that he drove the final nails in the coffin of American capitalism.
How can you guarantee me that I'll be coming out of the Bush Presidency in far better shape than I will the Obama presidency?
Excellent question! The trends and precedents being set right now are capitalism killers. Capitalism, freedom and the recognition of God given rights are what made America the most powerful, successful nation in the history of the planet. It was a profound experiment of self governing and self determination and we're witnessing the final death throes of that dream. We killed capitalism by removing failure from the equation adding social engineering regulation to business practices. Worshipping God is becoming more taboo in modern society, is ridiculed in pop culture and there's a full court press to replace Him with hubris and humanism. The removal of these three pillars that have allowed our country to thrive since its founding will ensure that we will attain the same status of mediocrity found in France.
That's just irrational speculation.
I'll grant you its speculation, but its hardly irrational. Based on historical precedents and the abysmal stagnation experienced by European socialist economies -who don't even have to provide for their own military protection- to produce economic growth even on a level with their anemic birth rates. I'm on fairly solid ground!
What would you have told me if I said in 2000 to you: I guarantee you we'll come out of the Bush Presidency in much worse shape than the Clinton Presidency. You would have laughed at me. But I would have been right in the end.
In 2000, you're right -I would have told you you're crazy. In 2004, I would probably have agreed with you.
So save the judgments of the Obama administration for when there is actually something to judge about it.
I don't have to save my judgment of Obama. I know he's placing looters and crooks in as his highest financial and administration appointees -the arbiters of the New Economy and State; I know he's a strong union proponent and after receiving so much money and support from the unions, he owes them legislative support. In today's business world, unions kill companies and lower the employees output to the lowest common denominator. Union shops are the death of exceptionalism and entrepreneurial spirit in the workplace.
I know that stealing from the productive members of society and distributing their gains to the unproductive members of society kills motivation; kills businesses and increases the percentage of the population on the dole. I know once a democracy gets to the point where more than half of its population doesn't pay taxes, the people start to vote for more goodies for themselves and more punishment for the 'Rich.' the legislation that follows this line further strains the productive members of a society and is a disincentive for anyone who wants to build a business and accumulate wealth.
I wonder, though, simulacre. If you are so hopeless and if the situation is so dire that the end of times will be upon us within four years, what keeps you here?
America is a big place and I'm a patient guy. I'll continue to fight and educate every step of the way. I'll Continue to stockpile cash, food, guns, ammo, fuel and survival gear. One day, I'll either be dead, in a gulag, or find that we've been saved from the hell on earth by miraculous intervention. my bet is on a Gulag / re-education camp. Historically where people like me get sent once your side gains full power and can come out of hiding.
Let me leave you with one final truth: businesses and markets have, in the aggregate, done better during Democratic Presidential Administrations than Republican ones. There is general data to prove this, but if you were to ask my father who ran his own small electrical contracting business for more than 20 years, he'll say the same and will pull out the income statements and balance sheets to prove it..
Prove it beyond anecdotal evidence and I'll attempt to rebut.
simulacre - Let me try to explain what I am trying to say about your criticism of me in different terms. I may be a liberal, but that does not mean that I, personally, walk in lockstep with other liberals on the kinds of irresponsble fiscal policy you attribute to liberals. You criticize me as if I am tickled by the expansion of state control over the economy and by the massive defecit spending we have engaged in. I'm not. I never have been. In fact, I think that big pile of excrement left by Bush includes this fiscal nightmare. You and I are certainly much more in agreement about this than you are indicating. Yet, you seem to want to paint me as somehow happily part of the defecit-spending, stimulus/bailout crowd just because I identify as a liberal Democrat. That's just not true and it has never been a part of my liberalism. I'm not an Ayn Randian libertarian when it comes to government fiscal policy, but I'm also not an irresponsible neo-Keynsian. Although I am worried about Obama's embrace of this stimulus enterprise, I am hopeful that he is sane enough to try to exercise some fiscal responsibility at some point. So, if you want to criticize me, the honest path would be to criticize me for what I argue and hold, not simply to criticize me simply for being a liberal Democrat. That is my point about how I should fairly approach you. It would be wrong for me to critize you for being part of that "conservative" movement that elected Bush and that tolerated all those policies that have led to the current deplorable state of fiscal affairs in our country. I could lump you in with Bush and his compassionate conservatives simply because you identify with his side of the ideological divide; but that would unfairly misrepresent you. I think you are doing this to me.
How is it that you get to describe the Bush legacy as craptastic, but when I do it, it's somehow false? You call me a hypocrite on this point, but I ask you to show me where I have been hypocritical. Either Bush left our country in a crappy place or he didn't. And if Obama leads us into a bigger hole down the road, you can best believe that I'll be disillusioned and disappointed in him.
Of course, I have thoughts on the other points you make; but I think I'd rather focus on what I think is the main point I'd like to get across. The rest of the discussion, as we say down here in Louisiana, is lagniappe.
How is it that you get to describe the Bush legacy as craptastic, but when I do it, it's somehow false?
I call his economic policy (aside from the tax cuts), big government spending on worthless social and education programs -sponsored or at least co-sponsored by Democrats- and Keynesian spending philosophy (pursued on advice from his Democrat Secretary of Treasury) fiascoes. I consider his foreign policy, counter-terrorism policy and the successes we've had against the enemies of America miraculous.
The problem I have with his legacy is every program he pursued that strayed outside of the traditional conservative platform (small government, low taxes, fiscal responsibility, governmental accountability, etc) failed and failed miserably.
You call me a hypocrite on this point, but I ask you to show me where I have been hypocritical.
Perhaps you're just like most leftists and truly believe that all the socialist programs, initiated or expanded by Bush failed or are failing because the wrong people were in charge of the show...I should have thought of that before I accused you of hypocrisy. Sorry.
Either Bush left our country in a crappy place or he didn't.
Oh, he did from a small government capitalist point of view. No Democrat I know is in favor of small government and many -now- are coming out of the woodwork against capitalism. Obama, himself said its not the size of the government that matters...
Bush signed every single piece of legislation that came across his desk until 2006. Most of the legislation was 'bipartisan' as defined by Rush Limbaugh: Republicans sacrificing what they believe in to agree with the other side and call it bipartisanship.
If Bush had a (D) behind his name, he literally would be Democrats' greatest hero since FDR...of course Obama is poised to outspend FDR and Bush on even more socialist programs, so by the end of Obama's term, that point will be moot and we'll see if you're still singing the same 'responsible' tune.
You voted for Obama. Obama is your guy. Obama's number one priority was stimulating the economy. Well, maybe his number three priority since writing an empty order to close GITMO and reinstating the funding for international infanticide were done before his Keynesian, boondoggle spending bill could be completed. This bill, he said, would stimulate the economy and its sole purpose was to do that. Obama also told us that he would not sign a pork laden bill and would, in fact, cut wasteful government programs. So the first piece of legislation he gets behind is the single largest pork barrel spending bill in history with a measly 12% directed at actually stimulating the economy. Obama supports this monstrosity and pushed it to the point that he had closed door meetings with the Republican caucuses pleading for their cover on its passage. This bill is your bill as surely as you support Obama. You believe in him and he believes in this bill. I'm not lumping you in with all democrats, rather, I'm lumping you in with the leadership of your party -who you believe in and support- and the ideology they espouse that you buy into and define yourself by.
And if Obama leads us into a bigger hole down the road, you can best believe that I'll be disillusioned and disappointed in him.
Obama is already leading us into a bigger hole...to the tune of 850 billion dollars! he has also told us that we're going to need another package of equal or greater size before the economy can recover and that unemployment will be up to 10% before we start to come back from this recession.
Look, I'm no economic genius, but getting out of this recession seems pretty simple to me...our business tax rate is 33%. If we cut the corporate tax rate in half and eliminate the capital gains tax for a year, I think we'd be out of this mess in within the same year.
sorry I don't have time to edit this response, job calls...
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