CATO Institute lambastes President Bush

CATO Institute ^ | July 31, 2003 | Veronique de Rugy and Tad DeHaven

[Luis Gonzalez]

We're a year and a half away from election night, can you put up a candidate that will win?

[paulk]

deep down his economics are from Milton Friedman school;

I don't think Milton Friedman would appreciate you putting his ecconomic school in bed with government expansion(what I call Socialism).

Dem policies are awful; keep them out of power!

The Dems ARE out of power! Yet it is Dem policies that are getting implemented - tax refunds to non tax payers, expansion of medicare - mark my word

Bushes next term will feature socialized medicine! Won't be public until after the election.

[AntiGuv]

But is this congressional (as in controlling the purse strings) or administrative?

I'm not sure what you're asking here.

[Mudbug]

How is it clear in the accompanying article? The article just says that "discretionary spending increased." It doesn't say what was being compared.

[Luis Gonzalez]

Nope.

[CWOJackson]

Ah, Luis...you've stumbled on one of the advantages of third parties. They can have all the answers because they know they will never have to try and impliment them. It makes planning and execution so much easier when there is no execution.

[AntiGuv]

Reagan's budgets were being compared versus Bush's budgets. I don't understand what you're failing to understand about that....

[DoughtyOne]

Don't take this personally. I understand what you are saying, but...

"Never do today what you can do tomorrow, since they have no choice but to vote for you anyway."

I am so sick of this political game plan I could scream.

[Luis Gonzalez]

Adults make decisions based upon how things are.

Children make decisions based upon how they would like things to be.

Children pretend the world is going to adapt to their desires.

Adults realize they must adapt to the world, to best get what they want.

Children think the world should be perfect, and if it's not, they quit or try to obstruct what's going on.

Adults make the best of what is, knowing it could be much better, acknowledging how wonderful it already is.

Maybe someday there will be a better person than Bush to vote for. I hope so. I personally would like to see a perfect man get elected.

But right now the adults will be voting for Bush.

121 posted on 08/01/2003 6:14 PM EDT by Do Be

[AntiGuv]

It makes planning and execution so much easier when there is no execution.

It makes planning and execution so much easier when there is a plan to be executed. If you see any signs of a plan to decrease spending and restrain the expansion of governmnet rivalled only by LBJ's Great Society and FDR's New Deal, by all means feel free to let us know...

[Luis Gonzalez]

"I am so sick of this political game plan I could scream."

Then leave the field.

[CWOJackson]

Ah yes, I forget the cold war when Soviets were crashing airliners into our cities. And then he sent all those troops into two Soviet countries to round up their leaders, with no support from his NATO allies whatsoever. And our relations with the U.N. during his tenure were never worse...then Dorthy clicked her heels three times and was back in Kansas.

[paulk]

No sure if you remember - but Reagan did handle terroist attacks, have a hostile UN, a congress that was under split control.

It's called leader ship - instead we have Bush following every demographic poll.

[AntiGuv]

Reagan was an adult, not a child. His playbook is available for anyone who wants to dredge themselves out of the memory hole. Review the history of 1981 to 1984 and the answers are readily available...

[Luis Gonzalez]

There is a plan, you just don't like it.

[DoughtyOne]

No Luis I'm not going to be run off this forum by the likes of you.

[CWOJackson]

You're right, I don't remember anything like this during the Reagan years.

[Luis Gonzalez]

"When I began entering into the give and take of legislative bargaining in Sacramento, a lot of the most radical conservatives who had supported me during the election didn't like it. "Compromise" was a dirty word to them and they wouldn't face the fact that we couldn't get all of what we wanted today. They wanted all or nothing and they wanted it all at once. If you don't get it all, some said, don't take anything. "I'd learned while negotiating union contracts that you seldom got everything you asked for. And I agreed with FDR, who said in 1933: 'I have no expectations of making a hit every time I come to bat. What I seek is the highest possible batting average.'

"If you got seventy-five or eighty percent of what you were asking for, I say, you take it and fight for the rest later, and that's what I told these radical conservatives who never got used to it.

~~ Ronald Reagan, in his autobiography, An American Life

[NutCrackerBoy]

The Dems ARE out of power! Yet it is Dem policies that are getting implemented - tax refunds to non tax payers, expansion of medicare

I know. I agree. Make them lose serious seats in 2k04 and lawmaking will be less, uh, Demmish.

[tubebender]

Here in California, we are recalling a governor for his wasteful spending, which led to a record budget shortfall ...?

DITTOS...