Bush was no conservative but I am not sure I would agree that he was one of the most liberal.
W didn’t come close to LBJ or Carter.
I agree with you.
Spending was very liberal during the Bush era but he did have better excuses than a recession.
Why didn’t we collapse after the $2.5T loss in a half an hour on 9/11?
Bush spent a trillion on that aftermath
A trillion on a new government agency: Homeland Security
Then there was the hundreds of billions spent on Hurricane Katrina that destroyed over 90,000 square miles.
You can’t forget Medicare part D. But no one noticed what the Democrats had proposed, which some say would have cost twice as much.
I’m not defending him though I like the guy. But I didn’t vote for the guy in 2000. The buzz words ‘compassionate conservative’ meant, ‘It’s easy to be compassionate with other peoples’ money.’ He was too much like his dad who called supply side economics ‘voodoo economics’, but there were some signs he understood ‘bottom up economics’ with his support of small businesses.
Considering what he was faced with, I’d consider him a pragmatist.