[rightcoast]

Comments? You can see that he's followed through on a lot of things, but I'm sure you can find a few things to jab at him for. In any case, he's amazlingly consistent, and I think that the "constructive government role for accountability" quote at the end is a key into understanding some of his policies... at least why he does things the way he does.

[NavyCaptain]

Yes and he stays the course and doesn't constantly look over his shoulder at the polls and decides what to do based upon them!

[ECM]

Wow.

I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a little surprised and, despite some stupid moves, at least the man keeps his word and stays consistent--an anachronism in this day and age to be sure!

[Peach]

My husband feels the best campaign ad would be to mention a few things that are in this article and then say: "they had 8 years and couldn't get it done. We will and we did."

[petro45acp]

I'd rather see the whole program go away. I don't believe it is the government's job to provide for me in my dotage....that's my children's job!

Actually, the responsibility is mine and mine alone.

[You Gotta Be Kidding Me]

Go read what he told George Will concerning CFR's ban on free speech and what he would do with a CFR bill that came to his desk for signature, if it contained a provision banning ads. The year was 2000. Go look it up, yourself.

Now that the dumb#$%^ signed it into law hoping that the Supreme Court Seniors had taken their meds and Midol, the USSC upheld what he said he would veto.

[waRNmother.armyboots]

I would strongly recommend that you read "A Charge to Keep" and " The Faith of George W. Bush". I recently read them and found that I feel more comfortable with what I see the President doing. Do not get me wrong, I still disagree with some of his decisions, but I do understand them better and believe that if we can give him a majority he can work with in both branches of Congress we will see a change. He will not have to compromise so much to accomplish what he wants and his next term he will not have to be at all concerned with reelection. He will already be in place and can hit the ground really running after the election.
I just hope his conservative base does not shoot itself in the foot again like it did with Ross Perot.

[1Old Pro]

With Bush, you see what you get. With liberals, they are afraid to tell the truth bcuase if they did nobody, or very few would vote for them.

[Mike Darancette]

Bush kept his promise to Seniors -- Daschle is deeply saddened.

[Joe Bonforte]

You can see that he's followed through on a lot of things...

Yes, including gutting the First Amendment. What a great conservative president.

[squidly]

I'd give him a B+ on fulfilling campaign promises.

[johnb838]

Like him or not he lets you know where he stands and he gets things done. Sometimes I think my expectations of him are too high because he hasn't addressed everything I want him to address, especially judicial appointments and illegal entry and residence, but I would expect those to be second term issues.

[biblewonk]

I wonder what he say saying about gay marriages back then. I do remember his saying in a debate that he believed that marriage should be between a man and a woman. I'm starting to doubt that the presidency has any power in this issue.

[King Prout]

I do not like or agree with every single decision the President has made, but I will say this: I honor a man who honors his own word. Dubya has shown, time after time, that wherever possible he will do exactly what he said he'd do. I admire that.

[arasina]

Thanks for posting this reminder that President Bush is a man who honors his campaign promises. I voted for him in 2000, knowing exactly what he was promising. Perhaps I didn't like the possibility of increased spending or the prescription drug thingy, but I voted for him. So many of his good qualities were apparent from the way he had governed in Texas. He united and led. His wife didn't try to be co-governor. He promised to restore dignity to the White House. He was courageous enough in one debate to state that Jesus Christ is his favorite philosopher even though he knew he would be ridiculed by the secularists and it could even cost him the election.

Many here who are trying to divide us probably didn't even vote for him in 2000 and won't be convinced to vote for him in 2004. I remember 1992. I heard that snake named Ross Perot whispering that his new party of the people could win and believed him just because I read about his arranging the dramatic rescue of the hostages in Iran. I admired the way he supposedly ran his company. I will never forgive myself for voting for that sneaky so-called presidential candidate and thus allowing Bill Clinton to take the oath of office. I won't be fooled again. I'm voting to re-elect Dubya in 2004.

[rightcoast]

More quotes from another debate....

Presidential Debate 2000

October 11, 2000

Governor George W. Bush

“The coalition against Saddam [Hussein] has fallen apart or its unraveling, let's put it that way. The sanctions are being violated. We don't know whether he's developing weapons of mass destruction. He better not be or there's going to be a consequence should I be the president.”

“I would like to [get Saddam Hussein out of Iraq], of course, and I presume this administration would as well. We don't know – there are no inspectors now in Iraq, the coalition that was in place isn't as strong as it used to be. He is a danger. We don't want him fishing in troubled waters in the Middle East. And it's going to be hard, it's going to be important to rebuild that coalition to the keep the pressure on him.”

“I'm not for gay marriage. I think marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman. And I appreciated the way the administration signed the Defense of Marriage Act... I'm going to be respectful for people who may disagree with me. I've had a record of doing so in the State of Texas. I've been a person that had been called a uniter, not a divider, because I accept other people's points of view. But I feel strongly that marriage should be between a man and a woman.”

Moderator: Do you believe in general terms that gays and lesbians should have the same rights as other Americans? “Yes. I don't think they ought to have special rights, but I think they ought to have the same rights.”

“I think we ought to raise the age at which a juvenile can carry a handgun from 18 to 21. I disagree with the vice president on this issue. He is for the registration of guns. I think the only people that are going to show up to register or get a license... are law-abiding citizens. The criminal is not going to show up and say hey, give me my I.D. card. It's the law-abiding citizen who will do that. And I don't think that is going to be an effective tool to... keep our society safe.”

“Some of the healthy folks, healthy young kids say I'll never get sick, therefore I don't need health care right now. For those what I think we need is to develop an investment-type vehicle that would be an incentive for them to invest, like medical savings accounts with rollover capacity.”

“[L]et's talk about my tax plan. The top 1% will pay one-third of all the federal income taxes. And in return, get one-fifth of the benefits, because most of the tax reductions go to the people at the bottom end of the economic ladder. That stands in stark contrast, by the way, to a man who is going to leave 50 million – 50 million Americans out of tax relief... He believes only the right people ought to get tax relief. I believe everybody who pays taxes ought to get tax relief.”

“I tell you one thing I'm not going to let the United States carry the burden for cleaning up the world's air. Like Kyoto Treaty would have done. China and India were exempted from that treaty.”

[rightcoast]

More quotes from the final 2000 Bush/Gore debate...

Presidential Debate 2000

October 17, 2000

Governor George W. Bush

“I think one of the problems we have, particularly for seniors, is there is no prescription drug coverage in Medicare. And therefore, when they have to try to purchase drugs they do so on their own, there's no kind of collective bargaining, no power of purchasing among seniors. So I think step one is to make sure prescription drugs is more affordable for seniors, and those are the folks who really rely upon prescription drugs a lot these days, is to reform the Medicare system, is to have prescription drugs as an integral part of Medicare once and for all.”

“I'm absolutely opposed to a national health care plan. I don't want the federal government making decisions for consumers or providers... I trust people, I don't trust the federal government... We have to trust people to make decisions with their lives. In the Medicare reform I talk about it says if you are a senior, you can stay in Medicare if you like it, and that's fine, but we're going to give you other choices to choose if you want to, just like they do the federal employees.”

“What I've done is set priorities and funded them. And there's extra money. And I believe the people who pay the bills ought to get some money back. It's a difference of opinion. He wants to grow the government and I trust you with your own money. I wish we could spend an hour talking about trusting people. It's just the right position to take.”

“Our coalition against Saddam Hussein is unraveling. Sanctions are loosened. The man who may be developing weapons of mass destruction, we don't know because inspectors aren't in.”

“You asked about promises. You were promised that Medicare would be reformed, and that Social Security would be reformed. You were promised a middle-class tax cut in 1992. It didn't happen... It's time for a fresh start. One of the reasons I was successful as the governor of Texas is because I didn't try to be all things to all people. When I campaigned in a race, a lot of folks didn't think I could win including, by the way, my mother. (LAUGHTER) I said I'd do four things; tort reform, education reform, welfare reform, and juvenile justice reform. And I won. And I had the will of the people in my state behind me. And then I brought folks together to get it done. And that's what we need, I think, in this election. To me that's what it's all about. I'm sure your 6th grade kids are listening and saying, these guys will say anything get elected. But there's a record, and that's what I hope people look at.”

[yonif]

He also promised he would move the US embassy to Jerusalem, during his campaign, and he hasn't done so yet, but delayed it by signing Executive Orders.

[Bob J]

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[Sci Fi Guy]

I agree, the only issue where Bush flip-flopped was on Campaign Finance Reform.

I think that part of the anger/confusion is due to the media (with a little help from Bush) labeling Bush as a conservative. In the media's mind Repub = conservative.

Bush actually is an old-time moderate. He takes the conservative side on some issues, the liberal side on others.

Bush is still better than the alternatives, and if he can Reform social security, then he would have accomplished some great things. But Bush had a chance to be a great President, to be loved the way Reagan is loved by the American people. But he's lost that opportunity, not because he made compromises, but because he compromised when he did not have to. I am thinking of campaign finance reform, medicare drug coverage (he could have kept his campaign promise by presenting a conservative plan, e.g. making drug coverage part of medical savings accouts for example).