As far as spending goes, every President spends more money than the last, and Ronald Reagan (My personal hero) spent more than his share, and I agreed with most of it. Just as I do with most of GWB's spending. GWB started out with a 2.0 Trillion Dollar budget, it's now 2.6 Trillion and that includes all the spending after 9/11, except for actual funding for Military Operations. This means GWB has increased spending by roughly 25%. Ronald Reagan increased spending by well over 200% while he was in office and nobody can look back and say he was a failure, we all complained as it was happening, but most of it was needed to fight and win the cold war. The same thing is happening today. We Must win this War against radical Islam and I don't see anybody more capable of making sure that happens than George W. Bush.
We will miss him terribly in 2009, especially if all the people on our side get hysterical over things like how quickly the Federal Government responded to an event Like Katrina, Cheney Hunting accident, Lease sales of Port Terminals to one of our few Allies in the Middle East and pave the way for a Hillary Clinton or Russ Feingold to become our next President
Get with the program. BOTH sides aim to control our lives and W has proved it by compromising with Rats and doing things RWR would NEVER had considered.
Bartlett is dead right, and he is right to call on conservatives to demand a redress for failure to promote a re-limiting of this corrupt pig of a Govt that covers up it's own responsibility for 9/11 with a whitewash commisssion full of liars and finger pointers.
Individual happiness is inversely proportional to the size of Govt - in case you've forgotten our founding principles.
>>>GWB started out with a 2.0 Trillion Dollar budget, it's now 2.6 Trillion and that includes all the spending after 9/11, except for actual funding for Military Operations. This means GWB has increased spending by roughly 25%. Ronald Reagan increased spending by well over 200% while he was in office...
Bush came into office with a budget of $1.863 trillion in 2001, Clinton's last budget year. Bush`s latest budget is up at $2.777-trillion. That is an increase of 49% from 2001 to 2007. Noting the 2006 budget will come in higher then estimated, as will the 2007 budget.
Reagan came into office with a budget of $678-billion in 1981, Carter's last budget year. Reagan's 1987 budget came in at $1.004 trillion. That is a budget increase of 48%.
Reagan's 48% is a lot lower then the 200% you quoted. And even a tick lower then Bush`s 49%, based on estimated spending projections.
Lets not overlook the big accomplishments by Reagan. Some that get overlooked with the passing of time.
President Reagan won the Cold War, dismantled the Soviet Empire and the communist Eastern Bloc, freeing 500 million people from totalitarian rule, rebuilt the US military, revived the US economy from the worst conditions since the Great Depression, cut taxes 25% across the board, reduced the top tax rates from 70% to 28%, reduced welfare state and non-defense discreationary spending, and reduced federal regulations like no POTUS before or since. Reagan also proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative, aka.STAR WARS. That proposal alone may have been the siginificant factor in bringing down the USSR. Reagan also negotiated reductions in the strategic nuclear weaponry of the worlds two super powers.
If it wasn't for President Ronald Reagan there would be no conservative movement today, no Newt Gingrich and the Contract With America, and no 43rd President called GW Bush.