Posted on 10/11/2005 7:09:03 PM PDT by Conservative Firster
Though widely viewed as an arch conservative in the major media, Bruce Bartlett increasingly finds himself alienated from the president of his party. Bush's policies, he warns, have been anything but conservative.
Bartlett faults Bush for moving away from free trade, adopting Keynesian economic theories, increasing government regulation and doing an extremely poor job of developing and selling conservative initiatives, such as Social Security reform. As such, George W. Bush, he says, has been a disaster for conservatism. Criticism of Bush from the right has largely been confined to fringe elements outside the mainstream of the conservative movement. Bartlett is the first from within the conservative mainstream to make the case that Bush is not "one of us" and does not deserve conservatives' support. As the next presidential election looms, Bartlett warns, a new standard bearer must be found who will correct the many errors of this administration and get America's fiscal house in order.
After September 11, America declared war on Islamic militancy that required huge new expenditures on defense. In the face of this, it was folly, says Bartlett, to introduce the Medicare drug benefit, a middle class entitlement program that, according to its own actuaries, burdens the American taxpayer with a new $18.2 trillion debt, an amount much larger even than the (once-) dreaded Social Security crisis. To pay for this vast new expansion of the welfare state, Bartlett warns, taxes can only go up—way up. Getting sufficient revenue out of our current tax system will be futile, making something like a European-style value added tax a near-certainty. It is noteworthy that Governor Bush once appointed a Texas tax reform commission that recommended a VAT, which he then supported.
On top of the Medicare drug benefit, Bush has rammed through huge expansions of federal education and agriculture programs. He has done nothing to restrain Congress's pork barrel spending and is the first president since James Garfield not to veto a single bill.
The administration's massive increases in government spending, Bartlett says, makes a sharp increase in taxes inevitable. There are many reasons to believe that a financial crisis may be brewing as a result. The Federal Reserve, for instance, is raising interest rates, which will put pressure on the stock and bond markets, and eventually prick the housing bubble, just as Fed tightening ultimately popped the stock market bubble of the late 1990's. When this happens, Washington policymakers who have been ignoring the budget deficit for years will suddenly see deficit reduction as the only way of restoring confidence. At this point, Bush will have to reverse course on taxes and spending.
Keep it up ... you might just convience me to vote for Hellary
Heck .. I don't personally own any guns to lose
See .. two can play this game
JUST ON FOX: Dobson said that he was told by the White House that 80 percent of the nominees withdrew their names because they didn't want to go through this process.
Did you hear that before?
Second, Bush does not make his decisions based on anything resembling honor or decency. He signed the misguided campaign finance "reform" bill because he was afraid McCain would challenge him in the primaries if he vetoed it. He signed the $900-billion prescription drug entitlement because he was afraid of losing the geezer vote down in Florida. He called for the reauthorization of the assault weapons ban because he was afraid of scaring the soccer mommies. He applauded the Supreme Court for recognizing "diversity" when it affirmed the constitutionality of reverse discrimination. Lastly, he had his wife go on TV and call conservatives "sexist" for opposing the Miers nomination.
The converse to the admonition "beware when all men speak well of you" definitely applies to W. The one who attracts all the criticism is the one getting things done.
I know. I've been reading his crap for seven years, as a lurker and a Freeper. There are certain FReepers I don't usually bother with. But after his endless flippant rhetoric, distortions and outright lies about the Reagan record, I had to breakdown and put him in his place.
80% withdrew ??
Well ... I can't blame them
Who exactly are "these" people?
That's what Pukin Dog said this morning. That a large number of the potential nominees said "no thanks" to the White House. Owens very publicly removed her name, three weeks ago.
Scalia said just yesterday that he wouldn't go through the process again, either.
NO! This is the first I have heard that 80% of the nominees withdrew their names, but I believe it.
Who'd want to endure the trashing? Work hard all your life, get nominated and before a person can enjoy the honor, he/she is trashed unmercifully by petty pundits and ambitious pols who care about nothing except themselves and their myopic agendas and personal gains.
I only knew about Priscilla Owen.
I don't know; that's just what Litte Silly Kristol said on FNS.
CAFTA will be a great thing for us in the future. We can slowly move out from China and India and establish our industrial might in much friendlier nations of central America. We are going to have cheap products anyway so I much better prefer it to be from our neighbors in the South who are not seeking to remove us from being the world only Super Power, rather than a Red Communist regime in a country that think they will be the opposite superpower that wants to fight and compete the US in all levels.
<< In her fevered imagination, GWB was annoyed because "conservatives" shot down Al Gonzalez for the court, so he turned around and picked a worse version of Gonzalez out of spite. That's so totally absurd that it makes me question Coulter's intelligence. >>
Same here. Her tirades were over the top and venomous. Instead of her fellow pundits encouraging her to settle down, they took up where she left off. Now it's not just her I question, but them too.
Many. But you also need to count the bitter Buchananites and moronic third party voters.
EXACTLY RIGHT!
GWB's tax cuts were designed to stimulate demand. That's why we needed three. The last included tax cuts by Congressman Bill Thomas that were designed to stimulate investment. GWB used to send out Ari Fleischer to make it perfectly clear that he opposed capital gains tax cuts at a time when business spending was making record declines and the Nasdaq was going down triple digits whenever GWB made an economic speech.
"I tried and tried and tried to warn people about Bush in the 2000 primary but the kool-aid drinkers would not listen. Now it is too late. spend spend and spend some more, spend like thier is no tomorrow. Spend it all, every last dime and then borrow and spend some more.
IMO dis-information calculated to cause panic and cause detractors and doubters to reconsider their respective position regarding Miers.
However, considering the usual lame defense expected to be given by the GOP's judiciary committee lineup for potential appointees -- "led" by RINO Specter -- I suspect there is some measure of retiscence for the job.
Exactly. If anybody qualifies as a moonbat on the right it is Ann Coulter. If she ever had to professionally argue her positions before a live panel of real world judges and against another professional, she would get absolutely shred to pieces. I have no respect for her intellect, and she's become only marginally entertaining.
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