Posted on 09/14/2010 11:31:43 PM PDT by Libloather
Clinton: New-look GOP makes Bush look liberal
The former president spoke at a fundraiser for DFL gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton in Minneapolis.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Last update: September 14, 2010 - 11:41 PM
Former President Bill Clinton said Tuesday that the Republican Party is embracing "ideology over evidence" and pushing out pragmatic voices that would make even his White House successor seem like a liberal.
Clinton, speaking at a DFL Party fundraiser in Minneapolis, said there was no mistaking that Republicans have tacked hard right and questioned whether former President George W. Bush would fit in among the party's candidates this year.
"A lot of their candidates today, they make him look like a liberal," Clinton told an enthusiastic crowd at a downtown Minneapolis hotel.
"It used to be that Republicans were evidence-based, not dogma-based," Clinton said, citing the administration of President Dwight Eisenhower. "They have thrown all that overboard. This is about dogma and big special interest under the guise of the Tea Party.
"The Boston Tea Party was protesting abuse of power. This is now trading public power for the abuse of private power. Don't kid yourself," Clinton said, just as a Tea Party-backed candidate was declared the winner Tuesday night in Delaware's Republican primary for U.S. Senate.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Bush was quite conservative by banning partial birth abortion, deploying national missile defenses, and cutting taxes.
Had the Public been in the mood for someone even more conservative than Bush back in 2000, Cheney would have been at the top of the ticket instead of at the bottom.
What has happened, however, is that the Public is shifting further to the Right to compensate for 0bama’s rabid Leftism.
0bama wouldn’t be re-elected today...Bush would (if he could win his Primary).
Way too liberal for me.
How quickly we forget Bush's tax cuts, immunity from lawsuits for American firearms manufacturers, and the expiration of the Assault Weapons Ban...
Well, yes, Clinton’s right. And Bush’s “liberal” signatures on Nancy elosi’s budgets were what caused the losses in 2008.
Bush’s “liberal” signatures to liberal bills from the liberal Senators in 2002 through 2006 were what caused the Pelosi victory in 2006.
Bush sent Bolton to the UN in 2005.
Oh he wasn’t all bad. He did some things right. Just not enough.
And his handling of the press stunk.
Plus the Prescription Drug addition to Medicare has actually brought the cost of drugs down for everyone with the big chains like WalMart, etc., offering savings of their own. It has actually lowered the cost of Medicare.
No Child Left Behind put teeth into an education program that always threatened to cut funds to failing schools but never did, increasing them instead. Just as Bush's cuts were to take place the Democrats took over and I don't know where that is now. I do know the Dems were crying like babies about it.
No one has ever handled the illegal question well including our hero RWR. Too many Leftists still in power. I wouldn't fault Bush for something no one else has solved either.
So what? Bush WAS a liberal.
You wouldn’t have your national missile defenses without Bush. Check your own tagline for that lineage...
Bush did a good job on defense, but his $389B deficit in 2008 DID look liberal and is what turned so many conservatives off when they saw the even more liberal McCain nominated. So, yes, those who got involved because they object to Obama’s $1.5T plus deficits would make Bush look liberal. Is that a problem? I don’t think so, at least not to those who care about the burden that Obama and Pelosi are leaving for our children.
Like it’s really so hard to do? Bush has his conservative areas, but he compromised with the left plenty enough, in fact that was one of his campaign promises.
Bush is somewhat liberal!
What the hell does that mean?
Bush is a liberal,, this assessment comes from a prez. who will always be a 2 bit turd.
Sounds wonderful to me....
Probably, but I’d take him back in place of what we have now. Bush lost me over his acceptance and approval of the illegal invasion, but Obama makes Bush look like a conservative.
I do admire Bush as a person. I don’t know that I would vote for him again unless it was against Obama or somebody equally as evil.
Defense was one of his biggest blunders. It started by making Rummy Sec of Def. Want to know who invented the Carter Military? It was Rummy. Early 1977 and I mean very early things were a huge mess.
Several bad moves. First was Rummy. Second was not raising End Troop Strengths by a minimal 25% immediately after 9/11. 30% increase would have been ideal. Net increase? Zero. Troops were doing 3-5 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Issues like Naval readiness which began under Poppy continued under Clinton and George mostly uncorrected. Our Navy is down from the 594 ships in 1987 to the 289 left in 2008. Critical maintenance was still being shorted. Maintenance that got done even in the Carter years.
The worse mistake military wise? Using our military for something he said he was against and had rightfully blasted Clinton and Gore for doing which was nation building. If Bush had let our troops do their job in a military manner and not a State Department ran one the War in Iraq would have been short and Iran would not have even thought about a nuclear program. Ignoring Yemen was another very huge mistake. Bin Laden could have and may be safely hiding there sad to say.
The Court Martials of our troops serving in Iraq was also another huge political and military blunder. Bush brought in Poppy's old team to run things which was Gerald Fords old team which was as much as responsible as Carter for the birth of M.E. state sponsored terrorism. On Foreign Policy? Wrong especially in relation to Israel. Israel had he left them alone and stayed out of their business could have done us some very huge favors in true progress in the W.O.T.
Even the Democrats wouldn’t now touch a firearms bill. And, Bush is supposed to, after decades of GOP support for ‘reasonable’ gun laws, get credit for a bill that the Democrats wouldn’t fight? Easy pickings. A thing RINO’s often do, support a conservative cause that is unopposed and then brag about it. It’s called boob bait for Bubbas, gaming the system.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.