So Many Missed Opportunities (W spending money like Drunken Sailor)

Tech Central Station ^ | today | Veronique de Rugy

[Non-Sequitur]

Yes Bush is spending money, but he is spending money and keeping you and your family safe in the process.

What do the Medicare Prescription Bill, $15 billion for Aids in Africa, and the pork-ladened transportation and agriculture bills have to do with my family's safety?

[k2blader]

I think the border situation is tied to the WOT, and he has a failing grade thus far on illegal immigration..

And, yes, I agree he has nullified (at best) any conservative advances he has made with his (at least) equal number of liberal ones..

[COEXERJ145]

The President doesn't spend money. Congress does.

But please everyone, don't let facts get in the way of another good Bush bash.

[M. Dodge Thomas]

It's appeared to me for years that the best arrangement if your top priority is holding down the growtrh of the public sector is divided government: a "moderate" Democratic President, and a Republican congress to hold his feet to the fire.

Otherwise you have a choice: Tax and Spend Democrats, or Spend But Don't Tax Republicans.

I understand why Social Conservatives chose to vote the way they did in 2000 and 2004, and I didn't try to talk them out of it, but fiscal Conservatives (and the country generally) are paying a very economic high price for advancing the SC agenda.

[roses of sharon]

Yes, it is east to blame pols, but not so easy to face the truth.

That the majority of American people WANT to be comfortable, they want their retirement and medical bills paid for, they WANT larger government.

They DO watch liberal networks, AARP commercials, they get their opinions from the elites in NY, ie the NYT and Katie Couric, they want moderation, cooperation, nuance, tolerance, diversity, ect.

They have allowed the left to rule our media, education, judiciary, culture, their paychecks, medical care, environment, religion, wars, and our very history, for decades.

IF the American people wanted what Conservatives want, they would be up in arms, marching, demanding, electing conservatives, running their candidates for office at all level of government, using civil disobedience, writing letters in mass, calling, boycotting, in consistent, relentless action.

As long as we here on this forum continue to eat our own in public, ignore the real enemy, ie, the NY and east coast elite media, by taking no action against them, and expecting the snobs in the elite Senate body, to behave differently than their constituents want them to, we will continue to lose.

After all, who elects these guys for decade upon decade of "service".

Lazy Americans of course.

[k2blader]

No doubt!

[Phantom Lord]

Also, spending increases have been necessary to support the war effort without a tax increase or war taxation on the population

When Defense and Non Homeland Security spending increases are removed, GWB is still #2 behind Johnson.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Well, with Bush I get 30-40% of what I want from a President. With any Democrat I get about 5%. There seems no way a candidate that promises even 80% of what I want could get nominated. Do I stomp off, join a third party, and play the tragic but noble voter (with a really cool party T-shirt) who is always thwarted? Or do I keep voting Republican and hope (unlikely though it may be) that I can effect change from within?

Claire Wolfe's great quote from a few years ago rings more true every day:

"America is in that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system and too early to shoot the bastards." ;)

[bkepley]

Very true but I don't think W really needed to spend so much, he's just not a disciplined guy. I voted for him and would do so again given the same realistic alternative.

[Phantom Lord]

The President doesn't spend money. Congress does.

Correct, but not entirely important to the discussion.

How many times has Bush used his veto pen? ZERO!

How many times has Bush proposed a budget that was SMALLER than the previous year on discretionary items? ZERO

[NJ_gent]

"But the President, no matter who it is, does not have the power to spend money. The headline is misleading at best."

The President shares as much responsibility for spending in the Federal government as does Congress. The White House works very closely with Congress to develop a budget. The White House knows what's in every bill before it ever reaches the President's desk, and chances are the White House has exerted at least some influence over what's in that bill. As the leader of the party and the man with more power than any other individual in government, the President has considerable influence over things like spending. As the one able to veto any spending bill, he has the ability to exert yet more control over the situation.

"My point is, there are already too many uneducated twits. Why confuse them further with a misleading headline??"

I have more respect for an author that assumes his audience is intelligent and tailors his article to suit than I do for an author who assumes his audience is stupid. If more authors wrote intelligent pieces, perhaps we'd have a more intelligent culture, rather than the one we have filled with Survivor-enchanted Mongoloids. NBC's The West Wing, when it was written by Aaron Sorkin, was one of the most intelligent shows I've ever seen on television. In fact, it was the only show I'd watch regularly on TV. That it got beat by "reality" TV is quite telling indeed.

[Junior_G]

The Rats have moved so far to the left, that they have dragged the GOP right along with them further leftward.

You have a point, though I would word it a bit differently. I think the Democrats' leftward movement has allowed the Republicans to get away with abandoning conservatives----nobody's forcing the Republicans toward the middle. There are a lot of conservatives that were ready and willing to vote for somebody other than Bush, but then the Dems put up the freakishly anti-American Socialist John Kerry as their candidate.

[dfwgator]

Or most of the moderates in the Rat Party have now joined the GOP, and watered-down the party even further.

[jw777]

"The tragic events of September 11, 2001 were no different. In addition to the massive run-up in spending for the war effort, airport security was nationalized, the Department of Homeland Security was created, an intelligence bureaucracy is being formed, and foreign aid continues to skyrocket."

always remember this to put this spending spree in perspective.

[jw777]

"The tragic events of September 11, 2001 were no different. In addition to the massive run-up in spending for the war effort, airport security was nationalized, the Department of Homeland Security was created, an intelligence bureaucracy is being formed, and foreign aid continues to skyrocket."

always remember this to put this spending spree in perspective.

[NJ_gent]

"the WOT is the only thing I had in common with the President. Borders ... I disagree with him."

I'm curious, how do you separate our border security from the WoT?

[Rodney King]

Yes Bush is spending money, but he is spending money and keeping you and your family safe in the process.

Which would explain why the NEA budget has gone up? I remember in the mid 90's when we almost killed the NEA, and that was with a Democratic president.

[NJ_gent]

"Without corresponding spending cuts, "tax cuts" aren't cuts at all - they're deferred taxes piled onto the exploding debt, with interest."

That's a very good point as well. The amount of money we're already spending on interest for the national debt is absolutely staggering. At the moment, for us to pay off the national debt right now, every man, woman, and child in the United States would have to give the government about $25,000. Family of four? Best write out a check for $100,000. I don't think most people have any idea how bad off we are with the debt. Can you imagine yourself, personally, in $25,000 debt times each family member living with you?

[Rodney King]

Well, with Bush I get 30-40% of what I want from a President. With any Democrat I get about 5%. There seems no way a candidate that promises even 80% of what I want could get nominated.

I agree mostly with what you are saying, but the advantage of a Democratic president is that we get a GOP congress that remembers that it is for less government.

[Black Tooth]

Yes Bush is spending money, but he is spending money and keeping you and your family safe in the process.

As another poster said, how can you fight a war, and not secure our own borders. If these organized street gangs south of the border can bring in tons of drugs, what else could anyone smuggle in? How can we be safe with millions entering the United States illegally?

Lets face it, we have a whole lot of enemies. Securing our borders should be a top priority.