Quote:
Five Reasons Why Bush Is One of the Most Important Presidents of All-Time
by Justin Hartfield, on politics
President George W. Bush will be a shining example for all future Presidents in the 21st century of what not to do when you are given the reins of the most powerful country in the world. Here's a list of some of his lessons:
1. Decreased taxes and increased spending is a recipe for fiscal disaster
How can a conservative President decrease taxes while increasing spending? I'm not entirely sure. Maybe the President is referencing different economists than the ones we are familiar with? Maybe he's just confusing his debits with his credits? Again, all we can do is speculate and hope the next guy (or gal) in charge can at least grasp the fundamentals of high school business math.
2. Prosecuting social ills does not cure society
Instead of making certain substances legal, or even just cutting back on the absolutely un-winnable 'war' America is waging on its own citizens, our President expanded the "War on Drugs." As he stated, "Illegal drugs are the enemies of ambition and hope and when we fight against drugs we fight for the souls of our fellow Americans." But Mr. Bush's well-documented drug and alcohol penchant clearly didn't rob him of his ambition to become President of the United States, did it?
Thoughts?
3. Federal education policy is out-of-touch, and leaves everyone behind
Standardized testing only teaches kids to pass a test- it does not ensure a quality education nor does it even ensure our students are getting the same education throughout the country. "Standardized" testing is a misnomer, as each state can make their test as easy or difficult as they see fit (which makes it likely that politicians will manipulate the test to achieve the highest results and the most funding). Undoubtedly, Mr. Bush is right: our public school systems do need reform. However, a school voucher program would alleviate most of the sources behind the problem by giving parents power to exercise choice, thus solving the root of the problem and not just the symptoms.
4. The federal government is extremely poor at responding to disasters or emergencies
If the immediate aftermath of 9/11 didn't convince you that the federal government is slow moving and wholly ineffective when it comes to relief efforts, Hurricane Katrina surely did. Let's use the dollars we put into our relief effort system to instead pay a 3rd party to perform the same service. That way, we at least get some competition between the already well-funded and well-organized non-profits, which will naturally lead to an increase of quality overall. If we even had the states contract out for their own humanitarians-for-hire services, we could provide faster response time and more knowledgeable staff.
5. Sacrificing much liberty for very little safety helps no one
The Patriot Act, the denial of habeas corpus, and the Guantanamo Bay detention camp are all excellent examples of what not to do when trying preserve the limited government ideals upheld in the Constitution. The creation of the Department of Homeland Security is especially baffling. We already have the CIA, the FBI, the NSA, the five branches of the US Military, state and local PDs, as well as a host of other less well known organizations designed specifically to counteract destructive agents to the United States. Yet bewilderingly, the President decided we needed another bloated, ineffective government agency to protect the country against terrorists. So far the Department's main contribution has been in the form of an adorable multi-colored chart, conveniently providing a gauge to how terrified we should feel when we wake up in the morning.
http://www.prometheusinstitute.net/blog/06_26_2007_post.htm
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Wekk, just on the first point. Not that I'm defending Bush's spending policies but.. It has been shown time and time again that lowering taxes often spurs economic activity and results in higher tax revenues for the government. That's right, lower taxes can lead to higher tax revenue. This is a tricky balancing act and Bush just doesn't have the hang of it.
Often, not always.
PAX
PS: This is what part of the alphabet would look like if Q and R were eliminated
- Mitch Hedberg (RIP)
GAM did I miss the applause.
I agree with AHHAAHAHA, but the rest are right on.
PRND321 Till I DIE
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M45 + LD9 + 4T40-E, GO GO GO
To be fair on the school thing, Bush has been for school vouchers. He gave billions in vouchers to Katrina victims.
Support of school vouchers is high on my priority list when I consider who to vote for. I've voted against a ton of status-quo Democrats over it.
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It's easy to point out the problems with any policy as none will ever be considered perfect. Anyone who is president will be ridiculed for whatever policy they implement simply because someone, somewhere won't agree with it and write another article blasting current policy for people to repost on the internet.
The point is that Bush's policies haven't had their intended effect on basically every count. Vouchers, Social Security "reform"/deconstruction, War on Terror/Drugs... Missed the mark and the point, and basically dropped the ball every time. The point is that you're seeing how a back-door presidency (like the one that Cheney-Rumsfeld had going for about 6 years) hurts everyone, especially when the house and senate are all aligned with basically one party.
HAhahaha: the lowered tax burdens haven't yet netted (in about 4 years) more tax dollars that I've seen. They're lower income tax dollars, not goods/services taxes, and they're not evenly spaced across the board (rich get disproportionately more tax dollars back). The other problem: Spending is OUT OF CONTROL, Clinton had the hang of it because he used "Conservative" Reps by the short hairs: They can't be conservative on budget while funding their pet pork barrel projects AND cutting taxes. Dubya doesn't have people to play against themselves... he's part of the pack. (well, was... Democrats are basically having a field day playing Reps against the president). If the house and senate had at least figured out that the cuts weren't going to help in the face of 800 billion dollar spending increases, maybe (just maybe) things would have worked out better.
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Maybe if we could figure out how to reduce our national debt that the interest on is one hour is $1.4 million dollars
- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new
Well I did say that often works, not always and that "Gilligan" doesn't have the "hang" of it.
The trick is to liberate tax dollars from the right areas. That does not include stagnent investment funds. In order to lubricate the economy you have to hit the gears, so-to-speak.
PAX
PS: This is what part of the alphabet would look like if Q and R were eliminated
- Mitch Hedberg (RIP)
Debt isn't the problem. The US can handle about triple the national debt (I think it was over 11 trillion the US could handle with regular interest payments) of today. The problem is that there's more being borrowed (it's about 1 Billion dollars a day), and the interest payments aren't being paid.
In 5 years when you're facing at best a recession, or likely a depression, you'll be able to know it was Dubya that put you there. Then, be prepared to cinch up your belts to pay the tax man, assuming you still have pants. Deficit financing didn't work under Reagan, it didn't work under Nixon, and it didn't work under Johnson.
Try this little micro-experiment in your own home: max out a credit card, don't make payments on it for 30 days, then ask for a limit increase, max that out, don't pay a nickle. Try this again, and see what you've got. It's not going to be pretty, because the credit company will toast your card... think about what would happen when the Chinese stop loaning the US money day in and day out (Just in case you're sceptical
READ .
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I really love Bush because the Canadian dollar is now almost worth EXACTLY the same as the American dollar. That rocks. God bless Bush.
I really sucks if you're manufacturing goods... that's what kinda irks me.
Doesn't help that most of our manufactured product goes south of the border.
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