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WSJ: The Bush Record
Wall Street Journal ^ | November 1, 2004 | Editorial

Posted on 11/01/2004 5:13:31 AM PST by OESY

...Mr. Bush was granted Bill Clinton's wish to live in "interesting times,"... Instead of inheriting an economic recovery as Mr. Clinton did, Mr. Bush began his term facing the end of the 1990s' investment bubble and a looming recession. And instead of inheriting a placid post-Cold War world, he was presented with September 11....

On the economy, he compromised on his first tax cut to win 12 Democratic Senate votes, but it proved too Keynesian and too long-delayed to pack much punch. So Mr. Bush used his Senate victory in 2002 to double down on his tax cut bet....

Yes, the deficit has returned, and Mr. Bush could have done more to control spending. But when his opponents on the left attack him for "deficits," what they really mean is that Mr. Bush should have imitated his father and raised taxes. Then Democrats would have blamed him for the slower recovery. Without the boldness of his 2003 tax cut, in short, the economy would be weaker than it is today and Mr. Bush would be heading to almost certain defeat....

But no one can deny Mr. Bush's boldness in toppling a ruler that everyone (including Messrs. Clinton and Kerry) said was a threat but had refused to act against.

His critics would have us believe that Mr. Bush's Iraq invasion has made the Middle East more unstable, but what pre-war "stability" are they imagining? The Oil for Food scandal has shown why the containment of Saddam was unsustainable, and 9/11 proved that we can't sit out the civil war that al Qaeda has begun in the Muslim world. Mr. Bush's "forward strategy of freedom" in Iraq and the Mideast recognizes that reality. If Dick Holbrooke or Brent Scowcroft have an alternative..., we haven't heard it....

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: abughraib; afghanistan; bush; china; clinton; economy; fallujah; holbrooke; india; iraq; jobs; kerry; mccainfeingold; osama; patriotact; recession; saddam; scowcroft; steeltariffs; taxes

1 posted on 11/01/2004 5:13:32 AM PST by OESY
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To: OESY
If Dick Holbrooke or Brent Scowcroft have an alternative..., we haven't heard it....

Nor have we heard from ANYONE on the Left on this "little" matter - including the whiner now running for president from the D party.

2 posted on 11/01/2004 5:17:11 AM PST by anniegetyourgun
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To: OESY

All that seems to be coming from the dims is ridicule, arrogance, a sense of entitlement, and endless BS.


3 posted on 11/01/2004 5:19:20 AM PST by tkathy (There will be no world peace until all thuggocracies are gone from the earth.)
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To: tkathy

At least they have the network for the BS.

Consertavies have no national news organization to report honestly and fairly.

The Dems have cBS.


4 posted on 11/01/2004 5:24:51 AM PST by A Real Dan Fan... NOT (1 more day, 4 more years. Go Dubya!)
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To: tkathy
"All that seems to be coming from the dims is ridicule, arrogance, a sense of entitlement, and endless BS"

Isn't that called "the DEMOCRAT PLATFORM"?? [/sarcasm] ;^)

5 posted on 11/01/2004 5:35:27 AM PST by soozla ("I used to think I was indecisive, but now I'm not too sure............"-John Kerry)
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To: OESY

Hey, WSJ - that's "President Bush" to you.


6 posted on 11/01/2004 5:36:42 AM PST by tioga
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