[Zack Nguyen]

As conservatives we have to get past the idea that Bush is violating stated principles. He is not. Bush does not believe that America's relationship with government needs to be radically altered. He believes that government should remain the primary instrument for social and economic welfare, and that $2 trillion per year is not too much to ask of the American taxpayer.

And let's face it - right now this philosophy is the belief system of the Republican Party. No one in power is really challenging him. By 1999 the Republican Party was an empty vessel, without any new ideas or innovations among the top leadership. Their entire strategy was to wait for George W. Bush to come along and save them. Bush did, and filled that empty vessel with his own ideas. I can't blame him for that.

Anyone who is surprised by this didn't listen to Bush's campaign rhetoric or watch how he did business in Texas. Bush is not interested in cutting spending, or even in holding it steady, and he never claimed to be. He may have mouthed a few platitudes about fiscal responsibility, but he never promised to do anything responsible save cut taxes. He just quietly spends enormous amounts of taxpayer money as a matter of government policy.

This is still more evidence of the extreme disconnect that exists between the Republican leadership and the conservative grassroots that are the hands and feet of the party. Quite simply, the Republican leadership in Washington (and in state capitols across America) is very uncomfortable with the principles of the those that put them in office.

[meadsjn]

This is still more evidence of the extreme disconnect that exists between the Republican leadership and the conservative grassroots that are the hands and feet of the party. Quite simply, the Republican leadership in Washington (and in state capitols across America) is very uncomfortable with the principles of the those that put them in office.

19 posted on 5/16/02 8:21 AM Pacific by Zack Nguyen

I'd nominate that for the Quote of the Day, at the least

[philman_36]

Anyone who is surprised by this didn't listen to Bush's campaign rhetoric or watch how he did business in Texas. Bush is not interested in cutting spending, or even in holding it steady, and he never claimed to be. He may have mouthed a few platitudes about fiscal responsibility, but he never promised to do anything responsible save cut taxes. He just quietly spends enormous amounts of taxpayer money as a matter of government policy.
Well said. I'm actually glad that Bush is in office. It really shows, more than anything else could've, that this coin may have two sides, but both are identical and neither is inverse from the opposite side.