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Posted on 09/06/2002 9:14:53 AM PDT by john bell hood
Spouting patriotic rhetoric and enjoying the support of fellow Republicans, George W. Bush has masqueraded as a conservative while actually advancing a liberal agenda.
When Bill Clinton boasted that "the era of big government is over," there were probably more belly laughs than nods. After all, Clinton was widely recognized as a big-spending liberal. He was seen by many as a dangerous demagogue with an insatiable appetite for power, an appetite that might have consumed our liberties if not for public and congressional resistance.
But with the election of supposed conservative George W. Bush, the public vigilance that helped keep Bill Clinton’s lust for power in check appears to have waned. Many Republicans and conservatives — who were quick to challenge President Clinton’s every power grab — fail to recognize the hypocrisy when President George W. Bush challenges Congress, as he did with a straight face during a radio address on August 17th, to "show spending restraint" lest the president "enforce spending restraint." Promising that his administration "will spend what is truly needed, and not a dollar more," Mr. Bush zeroed in on the Senate for "ignoring fiscal discipline": "I requested $2.4 billion for public housing; the bill moving through the Senate includes $300 million more. I requested $2.2 billion for agricultural research; again, the Senate wants to spend $300 million more." But such statements beg the question: Why is George W. Bush requesting billions of dollars for unconstitutional welfare state activities in the first place? How can an allegedly "conservative" president be so free with the taxpayers’ money?
Unfortunately, although Bush enjoys the reputation of a conservative, his own record shows that he is a liberal. In fact, his liberalism may be more dangerous than that of his immediate predecessor. Bill Clinton, a lifelong Democrat with a far-left pedigree, often provoked resistance from congressional Republicans and conservatives in general. Yet Republican congressmen who refused to support Clinton’s liberal policies have willingly supported similar policies when offered by fellow Republican George W. Bush. Consequently, Bush has been more effective than his predecessor, in many ways, in advancing Clintonian liberalism.
Bush’s Bloated Budget
A month after becoming president, Mr. Bush explained in a press conference (February 22, 2001) that his budget would reduce the rate at which spending is increasing — but without cutting spending in the absolute sense. "We’re going to slow the rate of growth of the budget down," he said at the time. "It should come to [sic] no surprise to anybody that my budget is going to say loud and clear that the rate of growth of the budget, for example, from last year, was excessive. And so we’ll be slowing the rate of growth of the budget down."
Bush, in other words, didn’t promise to shrink the size of government, but merely to slow the rate of big-government expansion — to put the brakes on the car speeding towards the precipice, but not to stop it, much less change its direction. But in the end, Bush didn’t even put on the brakes, but hit the accelerator instead. In the budget he submitted in April 2001, Bush proposed spending $1,961 billion in fiscal 2002 as compared to an estimated $1,856 billion in 2001 — a 5.7 percent increase. That, of course, was before September 11th. In a midterm budget summary released in July, the Bush administration estimated fiscal 2002 spending at a whopping $2,032 billion as compared to actual fiscal 2001 spending of $1,864 — a nine percent increase. The July budget document also proposed spending $2,138 billion in fiscal 2003, a 5.2 percent increase over 2002. During the Clinton presidency, the rate of increase in the federal budget from one year to the next never exceeded 5.1 percent (1999 to 2000), and it was as low as 2.6 percent (1996 to 1997). The bottom line: Federal spending is increasing at a faster rate with George W. Bush in the White House than it did with Bill Clinton in the White House.
(Excerpt) Read more at thenewamerican.com ...
Yeah, I'd like to think that I am my father's son, too.
"Dog Bites Man."
What else is new?
Generally, no. It's too much like work for their taste.
Or is their ignorance of the political process the reason they sit on their butts and take pot-shots?
Gee, what do YOU think? :o)
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Sorry folks, W. is/was bad news for America. He may be good for the GOP and for the African dictators but he is bad for America.
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