Problems that I am having with this president

[MontePierce]

Most of you don't know me because I'm a lurker and have never really posted here. I am a life long Republican and have never voted for a Democrat for ANY office. I consider myself extremely conservative. Yet, at the moment I am having some serious issues with our president. I don't know exactly where to start so I'll just create a list.

1) No Child Left Behind - Besides the fact that this program was created by Ted Kennedy, my main issue is that it makes the federal government responsible for fixing schools. State and local governments are supposed to be running schools, not the federal government. What we're left with is people blaming the president when their schools are bad instead of the state and local officials who can actually do something about it but don't have to because they don't take the blame for it.

2) Department of Homeland Security - I realize that there is need to fight terror on the homefront and keep ourselves safe. But adding another cabinet department is just more bureaucracy that just isn't needed. We could have just as easily created another agency under the defense department to help law enforcement work with the federal government to fight terror. Creating a new cabinet department is something I'd expect from somebody like Clinton, not somebody like Bush.

3) Iraq war - I supported our president going into Iraq and I still do support the war effort. But what I've seen with Iraq so far is a large amount of mismanagement and that seriously concerns me. The defense department should have not "assumed" that the Iraqis would welcome us with open arms and should have been better prepared for the attacks that our troops face right now. And as the whole WMD's thing goes, I don't buy the argument that the President lied about them. However, the fact that George Tenet gave the president faulty intelligence is no excuse. Bush should've fired the guy's ass the day he took office, or at least after the intelligence failure's that led up to 9/11.

4) Not standing up the democrats in the senate - We control the white house and both houses of congress and yet this president has still let the democrats take advantage of us in the senate. He didn't stand up for Trent Lott after the whole incident at Strom's brthday party resulting in a good experienced leader resigning and being replaced with an inexperienced Frist. Frist has allowed the tax cut to be reduced to 350 billion and has yet to give the democrats any real challenge to their fillibusters on judicial nominees besides that joke of a 30 hour debate-a-thon.

5) Spending - This is what gets me the most. This president has spent an outrageous amount of money so far and driven up the defecits when in his first state of the union he said that he would cut spening and use the extra money for tax cuts and to pay off the national debt.

6) Outsourcing - I don't like this whole idea of a global economy. Making and selling goods in America has worked fine for many years, why do we need to change that?

So here I am in a bit of a bind. I will NOT vote for a democratic president because I refuse to put another Bill Clinton tax and spend liberal in the white house. Yet I've seen this president making stupid mistakes like Clinton did and spending money like Clinton tried to but congress wouldn't let him. I'm seriously considering staying home on election day.

[WFTR]

We are neighbors to at least some degree. I'm in Louisiana as well. It appears that David Vitter will br the GOP candidate to run for the senate seat. Do you know your house district?

[jerry639]

I have a few problems with The President on some policy issues myself but with the likes of John Kerry as an alternative I won't have any problems voting for President Bush in May and November.

[Smartass]

You and most people have very short memories. Pre 9-11 Damage to the United States was provided by two BOZOS by the name of Sen. Robert Torricelli, and military and spook hater William Jefferson Clintom. I believe, in 1996, our CIA was defanged by these two clowns. America will pay a huge price for a long, long time for that misstep. It takes decades to build reliable intel ... a true Republican would have known that?

[billbears]

So here I am in a bit of a bind. I will NOT vote for a democratic president because I refuse to put another Bill Clinton tax and spend liberal in the white house. Yet I've seen this president making stupid mistakes like Clinton did and spending money like Clinton tried to but congress wouldn't let him. I'm seriously considering staying home on election day

I agree with you on having questions but not necessarily for the same reasons, valid questions as a conservative. However whatever you do, vote. It is your responsibility as a citizen of your respective state.

[Howlin]

Whoops never thought about voting for conservatives down the ticket.

I'm begging you, stay home.

[Mo1]

Fine .. go vote for Kerry

[Neets]

Moby or an ElPeePee'er.

[ole_man_ribba]

I certainly have some problems with many of the same things you bring up. In fact, I've fired off more than my share of emails to the White House when I thought the president was betraying his conservative base. Absent 9-11 and the War on Terror, I would probably sit this one out (for the first time in my life). But as angry as I am with Bush, I'm twice as distrustful of almost ANY demon-rat when it comes to our national security. All these other concerns quickly pale when juxtaposed against the smoking rubble of another terrorist attack.

Now Sam Nunn/Zell Miller is a democrat ticket I could vote for.

[Coop]

I'm a lifelong liberal Democrat who has never voted for a Republican, but this year I'll be casting my vote proudly for President George W. Bush.

[Tiresias]

So here I am in a bit of a bind. I will NOT vote for a democratic president because I refuse to put another Bill Clinton tax and spend liberal in the white house. Yet I've seen this president making stupid mistakes like Clinton did and spending money like Clinton tried to but congress wouldn't let him. I'm seriously considering staying home on election day.

 

If you went to the grocery store to buy a box of cereal and they only had two different kinds and not the kind you wanted, what would you do?  Most people would probably just leave the grocery store without buying any cereal, especially if they didn't like the taste of the two kinds available.

What would that do to the market in the long run if everyone did that? It'd probably make the grocery store owner wake up and start stocking more of a variety.

Don't vote in 2004, it's the only way to save our democracy.

[Hefalump]

He does have a point, some of these thing need to be addressed

[MontePierce]

I live in Vitter's district, which is extremely safe for us even if he retires. As far as him getting the US Senate seat, that's another story. Right now I think the dems are going to try to label him as "racially insensitive" because of this whole Morial controversy. Considering this and the dem victories in the past two elections, I think Vitter is at a disadvantage right now. On the bright side, if the dems pick up this seat it will be Rep. John who will vote mostly like Breaux did so it won't be terrible. But I'd still much rather have David Vitter.

[jstolarczyk]

No President will ever make all conservatives happy. He has this thing called separation of powers and the Constitution. Even Clinton angered his base. But, I can assure you, even with a Republican Senate and House, Kerry will do nothing to please conservatives. This President has the potential to do more for conservatives when he is no longer facing reelection and does not have a VP he must endorse. That would be the real test of GWB, not the last four years where he faces a reelection bid and must appeal to the center!

[jkrouskop]

Let's try to put this in perspective.

Bush pushed No Child Left Behind for two reasons. A)It takes education off the table for the Democrats and B)he genuinely cares about our education system and the kids who get swallowed up by it. Further, with so many liberals in the school system, bad-mouthing Republicans (and God!), Bush likely feels that the battle will have to be taken to that front at some point before a whole generation of kids is raised believing that Bill Clinton was the best President ever and Jesus is just the guy in that Mel Gibson movie. Bush is smart enough to know that our education shortcomings must be addressed or our nation's future will suffer. Sometimes even a conservative has to think outside the box.

You say Bush doesn't stand up to Democrats in Congress, yet few Presidents have ever gotten so much done in so short a time with such an evenly divided Congress. Dems have rolled over time and time again because they realized that a majority of voters were with Bush on each issue, and opposing him would only cost them votes in November. Bush has been masterful at pushing his agenda through Congress, and he's never had to resort to name-calling and dirty ball to get it done. Unlike his rivals, Bush is uncomfortable with personal attacks as a means to legislative concession (or vote-getting). He's a decent guy who has faith that his message will get through if he just stays on it. So far, so good.

Mis-management in Iraq? I have to laugh at this one. We won the war in 22 days! 22 days! Nothing mismanaged about that. Bush never promised reconstruction would be quick or easy, and the administration always knew that terrorists would take advantage of the newfound freedom in Iraq and use it for violence and mayhem. That's why so many troops are still there. A quick study of history and the region in question is all you need to show you that the Iraq War was handled brilliantly. Contrary to what the Democrats believe, I'm guessing that most Americans still believe Saddam Hussein probably had WMDs or programs in place to build them and could easily have hidden or destroyed the evidence in the months leading up to the war. Even if we never find anything, I doubt Democrats will be able to convince a majority of Americans that ousting Saddam was a bad thing, because it wasn't.

Finally, staying home on election day would do nothing but help Kerry win. Surely you paid attention in 2000? Every vote does count, and every one not cast for Bush is a concession to those who would oust him. I get very angry when I read nonsense like this about staying home on election day. Even once after September 11, 2001, did you promise or feel compelled to stand behind President Bush and support him? Did you have even a twinge of loyalty and gratitude for the job he did in rallying America and booting the Taliban from Afghanistan? Did you even once thank God for putting George W. Bush in the White House to lead us through such trying times? If you ever felt even the slightest hint of duty to support your President following that terrible day, then why would you turn your back on him now, when he needs you most? Don't be like the liberals who only care what America can do for them next. Remember what this President did for you and show your gratitude by entrusting him with four more years in office. If you can't give ten minutes out of one day this year to go and push a button saying you want George W. Bush to remain President, you're commitment to your conservative principles, and to the unity we all claimed was America's greatest attribute after 9/11, must not be very strong. As conservatives, we vote because we believe it's the right thing to do. Do the right thing, because our nation can ill afford to hand John Kerry the keys to the kingdom.

[Tiresias]

More perspective...

 

• You want thinking "outside the box"?  How about privatize the education system.
  ...and how, exactly, is No Child Left Behind supposed to stop the liberal school system from "bad-mouthing Republicans (and God!)"?
  Conservatives should oppose nationalized education. No Child Left Behind only serves to dig the public schools deeper in bureaucracy.

• How is Bush standing up to Congress when he signs every piece of legislation that comes across his desk?
  What are you referring to when you say that Bush has "gotten so much done"?  Are you referring to the stripping away of American freedom with the PATRIOT Act... Increasing government bureaucracy with a new, unnecessary cabinet-level department... Bringing us into war on false premises... Massive increase in government spending... the prescription-drug giveaway that will harm the solvency of Social Security and increase prescription-drug prices for the rest of us. Need I go on?

• Funny...  funny that the greatest amount of casualties has occurred after we "won" the war. So far, about 500 Americans have died after those 22 days... that's doesn't seem the slightest bit mismanaged to you?
  We need to face the fact that Saddam didn't have WMD, that particular justification for war is dead. We have wasted almost a billion dollars looking for what's not there just to "save face."
  I'm sure you've seen this quote before from Bush Sr., but the words have become prophetic now:" We should not march into Baghdad, turning the whole Arab world against us. Assigning young soldiers to a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning them to fight in what would be an unwinnable urban guerilla war, it could only plunge that part of the world into ever greater instability."

• If Kerry does win, what of it?  The problem with Bush is that he has forsaken the traditional principles of his party, thus there is little difference between him and Kerry.
  Not voting for Bush will cause the Republican party to wake up and realize they need to stick to their principles... return to conservatism. No more pandering to the left; it is has gone on too long. Too many Republican politicians think that they can pander to the left to gain swing voters and Democrats while upsetting their conservative base because... after all, the conservative base isn't going anywhere because they have nowhere to go.
  It's time to show them that politicians who do this will be denied votes from their conservative base. For years conservatives have had to settle for voting for the "lesser of two evils" rather than a candidate we could really support. We thought, at last, we had that in George W. Bush, but he has proven us all wrong. To vote for him is to say that you're okay with this. And if you are okay with everything Bush has done, then by all means vote for him.
  But if you also have a list of grievances similar to the ones at the beginning of this topic, then please don't give your support and approval to a President that will continue to disappoint you. By voting for Bush, you are an accomplice to all those things you find wrong with his presidency, not to mention those things to come.

[1_real_american]

Vote for a third party in 2004- the Constitution Party!!!
If I have to choose between a Republican vote or a Democratic vote- I would choose republican. (And it seems as though those are the only two to choose from in the media's eyes!) The Constitution party is ultra conservative, and seems to have real orininal American ideas that our Forefathers meant for us to live by....
Vote for Michael Peroutka in 2004!!!

[1_real_american]

Vote for a third party in 2004- the Constitution Party!!!
If I have to choose between a Republican vote or a Democratic vote- I would choose republican. (And it seems as though those are the only two to choose from in the media's eyes!) The Constitution party is ultra conservative, and seems to have real original American ideas that our Forefathers meant for us to live by....
Vote for Michael Peroutka in 2004!!!

[edeal]

I've never voted for a dem, not even for unopposed state house of reps races. By itself it is not an indicator of a troll.

The vanity attacking the president as a new user is though.

To be excited about this President, one has to have low expectations about the Presidency.

[edeal]

Brilliant. Lets convince people to end 50 years of entitlements by proposing more. That will ween then ASAP! Its like homeopathic medicine for government.

[edeal]

You don't seem to realize that the deficit is a small portion of the economy. If I remember correctly, the economy is $11 Trillion (which is really $1.1 Billion, but that is another post). If the economy grows faster than deficits grow you are in better fiancial shape in the end than you were in the beginning.

By lowering taxes you can grow the economy faster, thus in the end (assuming a non zero tax rate), you will eventually recover more taxes at a lower tax rate.

Somewhere there is a perfect tax rate to recover the maximum revenue of a long period of time. The problem is there is no way to test for it.