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"If a Dem spent money like he did you would be SCREEEEEEEEMING."

total agreement. Many Repubs on this site fail/refuse to hold Bush to the ideals we held Clinton to. Ideals that he obviously failed to uphold.

But, in terms of spending like a Dem, Bush has already outspent Clinton domestically....and in only 3 years. One shudders to think of how much more he'll spend without considering a veto in the next 5 years. That is, if one allows themselves to critically examine the President's policies, rather than blindly following or ignoring all facts that indicate he's no conservative.

Many Repubs on this site fail/refuse to hold Bush to the ideals we held Clinton to.

The worst offenders are the Republicans in Congress. They had no problem denying much of the spending increases Clinton wanted. Their fiscal conservativism even put the government into surplus.

But put a Republican in the White House, and suddenly congressional Republicans have never met a spending bill they didn't like. Go figure.

...That is, if one allows themselves to critically examine the President's policies, rather than blindly following or ignoring all facts that indicate he's no conservative.

I can't say Bush is NO conservative, he does have some conservative chips on his side of the ledger. On some social values issues, he's standing firm. He genuinely appreciates our troops home and abroad. He's prosecuting the WOT abroad, in other words, doing his job as C-in-C.

Bush is more properly classified just as he says - a Compassionate Conservative. This faux conservatism apparently condones spending taxpayer money wildly on big government programs in an effort to buy various groups' votes. This faux conservatism apparently favors NAFTA for half the world and an open borders policy - an obvious and serious national security failure. This faux conservatism apparently believes in a selective adherence to the Articles of the Constitution. This faux conservatism apparently believes in a selective enforcement of the rule of law. Fully upholding all of the Constitution and enforcing all laws might cost this Compassionate Conservative some votes. This faux conservatism apparently believes that the permanent importation of a massive low-skilled and very low-paid workforce is good for America (also their families come, soon to be classified as the working poor deserving of taxpayer assistance).

The stack of chips on Bush's side of the conservative ledger is looking awfully small.