The majority is wrong about Bush

The Charleston Gazette ^ | 4-16-06 | Don Surber

[veronica]

President Bush’s approval rating is pretty low. He is behind car salesmen, but still ahead of journalists and Congress. A recent Gallup Poll found that only 37 percent of the public approves of the job he is doing as president.

Picky, picky, picky.

Now George W. Bush is too nice to say this, but maybe the problem is with the American people. We are a nation of ingrates.

Let me give you an example. The New York Times painstakingly examined the investment tax break and came up with a list of the counties that benefited most from this change in policy.

Among the chief beneficiaries was Marin County, Calif., outside of San Francisco.

How did Marin County voters show their appreciation? In 2004, 73 percent voted for John Kerry and 25 percent voted for Bush.

Come to think of it, the five most affluent states — Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland and New York — all voted for Kerry.

At the other end of the scale, all 10 of the poorest states went with Bush in 2004.

Increasing the child tax credit to $1,000 and ending the marriage penalty helped drop taxes by an average of $1,083 in 2003 for the nation’s 92 million taxpayers.

And people saw the results in other ways. The unemployment rate shrank from 6.3 percent in 2003 to 5.1 percent in 2005 to 4.7 percent last month.

That is pretty good considering that the attacks of Sept. 11th knocked the stock market out for nearly a week and that oil prices rose to $70 a barrel.

It is even better when one considers the United States just lost a major city to Hurricane Katrina — or rather, New Orleans failed to properly maintain the levee system given it by American taxpayers.

Indeed, the same poll that found 60 percent disapprove of Bush’s handling of the economy found 59 percent of Americans rate the economic condition of the nation as good — and 60 percent said they expect that a year from now the economy will be good.

It is not the economy, stupid. It is the war.

Iraq is not so much Vietnam as it is Korea. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower ran for president promising to end the war in Korea. He did.

Our troops are still there, as is our commitment. Americans surely knew going in that there would be a long-term commitment in Iraq.

In judging the Bush presidency, Americans must not overlook the No Child Left Behind reforms, which shifted the emphasis in education from the bureaucracy back to the child.

Much to my surprise, the convoluted Medicare prescription plan seems to be working. A survey showed three-quarters of those who signed up say they are saving money.

My guess is that 60 percent of them nonetheless would say Bush is doing a poor job handling the prescription program.

The war overwhelms all that, which is not surprising. I would guess that if Gallup asked, 60 percent would disapprove of his handling of the weather.

The president takes it in stride. Bush spoke at Johns Hopkins University earlier this month. He was asked about the polls and the protest.

“Yes, I hear the protests,” Bush said. “And I can understand why. I can understand why people are concerned about war. Nobody likes war, particularly me.

“I knew exactly what was going to happen when I committed these troops into harm’s way. I knew there would be — people would lose their life. And I knew I’d be trying to comfort mothers and fathers and grieving wives. I knew exactly what was coming.

“And if I didn’t think it was the right thing to do, I wouldn’t have sent them. And if I didn’t think we could succeed in Iraq, I’d pull them out.”

President Bush bet his presidency on Iraq. Like Harry Truman before him, Bush had no choice. States that sponsor terrorism must be brought in line.

Truman was not appreciated in his time. Bush is not appreciated now. Most of the time, the majority is right.

This is not one of those times.

[nicmarlo]

Glad to see you're not in favor of ripping apart America's sovereignty.

[nicmarlo]

thanks and glad to make you smile some. : )

[nicmarlo]

ty, Czar.