- OR - B. 
Posted on 02/14/2003 10:01:42 PM PST by Uncle Bill
The State Of Big Government
President Bush's State of the Union address was one part stirring rhetoric, five parts socialist vaporings for even more unrestrained Big Government.
The New American
By Steve Bonta
February 24, 2003
Back in the summer of 2000, when the Bush-Gore presidential race was gathering steam, syndicated columnist Charley Reese painted a very complimentary picture of candidate Bush. The choice facing voters, he opined in one column, was between "saving the country" (voting for Bush) and "committing national suicide" (voting for Gore). Continued Reese, "my Dad used to say that whenever America got into trouble, somehow the right person always came along. I believe that George W. Bush is that right person at the right time." In a separate column, Reese enthused that Bush was "the only candidate with a chance to win who hasn’t indicated that he views the Bill of Rights with utter contempt."
Unfortunately for America, Charley Reese’s rosy appraisal of the younger Bush was way off the mark, which a contrite Reese now acknowledges. Bush’s latest State of the Union address — one part stirring rhetoric, five parts socialist vaporings — is a case in point. On topics ranging from the environment to health care, President Bush sounded positively Clinton-esque, calling for more than $400 billion worth of new government spending on initiatives ranging from the quaintly oxymoronic (USA Freedom Corps) to the downright silly (hydrogen-powered cars).
By continuing the grand bipartisan tradition of taxing and spending, Bush has already destroyed any lingering doubts about his devotion to Big Government. But the burgeoning deficits and reckless spending embraced by Bush and his congressional toadies aren’t the biggest worry. The real problem is a pair of fatal ideas that have become orthodoxy in official Washington. The first is the conceit, entertained by big-government enthusiasts of every hue, including the current president, that any problem can be solved, or at least greatly mitigated, by the creative application of centralized state power. Ascribing to the federal government near-messianic attributes, President Bush assured Congress in his address that the federal government has the power to give us "healthy forests" (whatever that means), clear our skies, shower on our senior citizenry still more medical benefits, cure drug addiction, and even, by subsidizing religion and philanthropy, "transform America, one heart and soul at a time."
Nor does Bush’s coercive compassion stop at the water’s edge. According to the president, our convictions oblige "us" — meaning our government — to go "into the world to help the afflicted, and defend the peace, and confound the designs of evil men." Thanks largely to the "war on terrorism," Bush has managed to commit America to a policy of permanent worldwide interventionism, even though our own country has many legitimate defensive needs — such as a secure southern border — that the federal government ought to address, but refuses to do so.
As dangerous as our leaders’ misplaced faith in Big Government may be, still more harmful is another fatal idea, the almost universal belief among members of the political set in Arbitrary — that is, lawless — Government. Long gone in Washington are most constitutional restraints on federal power. Instead, our elected leaders — including our current president — believe that benevolence, not lawfulness, is the only litmus test for good government policy. Once upon a time, the American Founders, as well as certain of their European counterparts, believed in the importance of having a "fundamental law" superior to the rulers and ruled alike. The Founders intended the Constitution to be such a fundamental law, and designed it to be both easy to interpret and difficult to change. The president, far from having the sweeping executive prerogative of a monarch, was limited to the few well-defined tasks enumerated in the Constitution. America’s political leaders, and an overwhelming majority of the citizenry, once understood this.
But no more. Like his recent predecessors, President Bush is poised and eager to apply the power of the federal government anywhere he deems necessary, from intrusive new powers of surveillance over America’s citizenry to foreign aid for AIDS-stricken African nations, regardless of constitutional restraints. His myrmidons in Congress quibble over policy details, but they too favor arbitrary, lawless government in principle.
Consider, as just one example of President Bush’s disregard for the Constitution, his comment on presidential war powers near the end of his address: "Sending Americans into battle," Bush intoned, "is the most profound decision a President can make." Since when has the "decision" to go to war become a presidential prerogative? Congress is given the power to declare war in Article 1, section 8, whereas the president, in Article 2, section 2, is empowered only to be the commander in chief of the military "when called into actual service of the United States."
Irrespective of Mr. Bush’s merits as a person, he must be held accountable for his professional conduct as long as he occupies the Oval Office. His pleasant demeanor and engaging style cannot compensate for his ignorance both of constitutional limits on presidential power and of the principles of freedom and limited government. Until Americans begin to hold their leaders accountable for such deficiencies, however, the twin dogmas of Big and Arbitrary Government will continue to determine federal policymaking — no matter which party controls Congress and the White House.
Who stated the following:
"Government ought to have a policy that helps people with a downpayment."
A. - OR - B.
You are not hallucinating, he really wants to have the government provide downpayments.
$3,400,000,000,000 (TRILLION) OF TAXPAYERS' MONEY IS MISSING
Bush Signs Largest Family Planning Bill In U.S. History
"On Thursday, January 10, 2002, the White House reported President Bush signed the ominous $15.4 billion foreign appropriations bill, H.R. 2506, for fiscal-year 2002. The bill authorizes $446.5 million U.S. tax dollars to be given to other countries for abortion-family planning activities throughout the world. The abortion-family planning funds approved by Bush represents an increase of $21.5 million over last year for international family planning."
Bush Spending Bill Largest Ever
Washington's $782 Billion Spending Spree
Bush Calls For $400 Billion In Medicare Spending
Bush Urges Congress to Deliver on Prescription Drugs for Medicare
Bush Asks for $15 Billion to Fight AIDS in Africa
Bush Seeks Nearly $60 Billion In New IT Spending
Bush Seeks 50 Percent Foreign Aid Boost
Bush Releases $200M in Heating Aid
Congress OKs spending bill (including $90k for cowgirl museum bilingual audio tour)
Bush Plans New Agency to Dole Out Billions in Aid
Washington's Dead Donkeys (Out Of Control Spending And Lies By Republicans)
Bush 2004 Budget Plan Tops $2 Trillion
Bush Likely to Project Record Budget Deficits
PRESIDENT BUSH SIGNS WETLANDS ACT
One example:
"This farm bill will cost the average American taxpaying family $4,300 in higher taxes."
"Not over my dead body will they raise your taxes,"
George W. Bush - SOURCE.
GEORGE W. BUSH'S LIMITED GOVERNMENT
President George W. Bush - Biography
SOURCE: http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/gwbbio.html
"George W. Bush is the 43rd President of the United States. Formerly the 46th Governor of the State of Texas, President Bush has earned a reputation as a compassionate conservative who shapes policy based on the principles of limited government,..."
HOW CONSERVATIVE IS PRESIDENT BUSH?
"The surest way to bust this economy is to increase the role and the size of the federal government."
George W. Bush - Source: Presidential debate, Boston, MA. - Oct 3, 2000.
GEORGE W. BUSH: CLINTON'S THIRD TERM © - Norman Liebmann
For the children:
How Big Is The Government Debt? - $33.1 TRILLION
That was what I got out of it.
Yes, it is. Does that make their factual reporting automatically false? Over the years, they have been an excellent source of background reports on various government booddoggles and cover ups. You might check their archives on the OKC bombing, as an example. You will find no more detailed study backed up with very good data citations.
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