Replies

but the list you've presented should darn well trump the areas of disagreement

Maybe. Maybe not. But as long as Southack is going to spam threads, I guess I can counter-spam.

In his nomination acceptance speech in 2000 Bush said, "Big government is not the answer." It reminded me of when Ronald Reagan said that government is not the solution and then presided over a 67% increase in federal spending during his 8-year tenure. Republicans campaign like libertarians but govern like socialists. They increase government spending, drown business in new regulations, create and expand government programs, impose economic sanctions on other countries and meddle in their internal affairs, instigate wars, and curtail freedom. They're willing to pander to virtually any special interest group which throws money in their direction. They even enact gun-control. Republicans have no incentive to reduce government because they can always count on their rank-and-file supporters to vote party-line. If you want to reduce government and get it out of your life then you must stop supporting the people who are making government bigger. Supporting the "lesser of two evils" isn't going to reduce government.Since taking office George W. Bush has increased the national debt by $895.7 billion. [source]
George W. Bush has spent more time campaigning while in office than any of his predecessors. [source]
Bush has never vetoed a spending bill. [source]
With GOP Congress behind him, Bush has yet to use veto [source] — Aided by a Republican-controlled Congress, President Bush is on track to become the first chief executive since John Quincy Adams in the 1820s to complete a full term without vetoing one bill.

Do Republicans really support smaller government? Here are some interesting facts:

Republicans controlled both Houses of Congress from 1995 through 2001 during which time the federal budget grew from $1.4 trillion to $2.1 trillion (about $100 billion annually). [source]
Since Republicans took control of the House in 1995, federal discretionary spending has grown by a rate of about 7% annually. The number of earmarks lawmakers have put in the spending bills to steer federal funds to their districts has also grown. By one estimate, between fiscal years 2001 and 2002, they increased from about 6,300 to 8,300, or 32%. [source]
Since the Republicans took over Congress in 1995, the budget has grown by 50%. [source]
Even though we now have GOP control of the White House, the Senate and the House, the bloated $2.25 trillion federal government has grown more rapidly on President Bush's watch than it did under Clinton. [source]
Social welfare programs under George W. Bush have grown by $96 billion in just two years, versus $51 billion under six years of Clinton, according to economist Stephen Moore of the Club for Growth. [source]
Pork-barrel spending rose by 21.6% from 2001 to 2003 according to CAGW President Tom Schatz. [source]
When Ronald Reagan became president in 1981 the federal budget was $680 billion. When he left office in 1989 the federal budget was $1.14 trillion -- an increase of 67%. [source]
The last Republican presidents to preside over a decrease in federal spending were Warren G. Harding (who served from 1921 until his death in 1923) and Calvin Coolidge (who served from 1923 until 1929). During that time federal spending decreased 44% from $5 billion to $2.85 billion. However, spending began increasing again in 1928 before Calvin Coolidge left office. [source]
Also be sure to read Bush and the Republican Gun Grabbers

SOCIALIST WELFARE PROGRAMS & POLITICAL BOONDOGGLES

[source] $5 billion bailout and $10 billion loan for airlines via the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act.
[source] $521 million Amtrak budget for fiscal 2002.
[source] $205 million bailout plus $100 million loan to Amtrak.
[source] Dept. of Transportation budget increased by 6% over fiscal 2001 to $59.5 billion. (riddled with pork)
[source] $145 million for the New Freedom Initiative to ensure transportation alternatives for people with disabilities.
[source] "Homebuyer bill of rights" to Reform Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act -- federal regulation of real estate.
[source] Continued anti-trust lawsuit against Microsoft.
[source] $1 billion over 5 years for the poor to purchase homes via the "American Dream Down Payment Fund."
[source] Proposed $3.7 billion in new Medicare funding over the next three years (2003-2005) .
[source] Health care subsidies for laid-off workers and expanded job retraining benefits ($10 billion to $12 billion over 10 years).
[source] Wage insurance -- federal wage supplement.
[source] $67 million in taxpayers' money to finance presidential campaign via federal matching funds.
[source] Issued executive order creating the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
[source] Submitted largest budget ever to Congress, $2.13 trillion.
[source] Increased debt-limit from $5.95 trillion to $6.4 trillion.
[source] Scholarships for Cuban students and professionals via the Initiative for a New Cuba.
[source] Increased budget for National Health Service Corps by $44 million to $191.5 million.
[source] $150 million for the Coast Guard and the Customs Service to hire new personnel.
[source] Increased farm subsidies by $180 billion over 10 years via the Farm Security Act.
[source] Increased Pentagon budget by 12% over fiscal 2001 from $316 billion to $355 billion.
[source] $560 million for the USA Freedom Corps which includes $230 million for AmeriCorps.
[source] Double the number of Peace Corps volunteers at a cost of $200 million over five years.
[source] $3.5 million for SuperBowl anti-drug ads.
[source] Faith-based subsidies.
[source] Increased federal spending on education from $39.9 billion to $44.5 billion via the "No Child Left Behind Act."
[source] Signed Congressional payraise of $4,900.
[source] Patients Bill of Rights.
[source] Federal Compassion Capital Fund, $700 million over 10 years.
[source] $100 million to beef up investigative manpower and technology at the SEC.
[source] $6 million to upgrade a U.S. Geological Survey data center near Sioux Falls, S.D.
[source] $10 million to help farmers near the Rio Grande River involved in a water dispute with Mexico.
[source] $7 million for enhancing water supplies in New Mexico.
[source] A provision pressuring the Agriculture Department to reimburse poultry producers in West Virginia and Virginia for losses from avian influenza.
[source] $1 billion for Pell grants for low-income students.
[source] $417 million for veterans' medical care.
[source] $400 million to help states improve voting systems.
[source] $100 million for countering western wildfires and floods.
[source] Taxpayer-funded national memorial, congressional gold medals, and gold coins for victims of 9/11.
[source] Scholarships and grants to nurses and help hospitals with retention.
[source] Increased the NEA budget by $10 million, to $126 million.
[source] $200,000 for a trucker congestion notification system in Tacoma, Washington.
[source] $500,000 to save the Prebles Meadow Jumping Mouse in Colorado.
[source] $62 million to promote the Sacajawea dollar coin.
[source] $100,000 a month to monitor news reports and offer advice on media strategy for the Pentagon.
[source] $1.5 million for maintenance of the Vulcan Statue in Alabama built for the 1904 World's Fair.
[source] $20 million annually for "Strategic Milk Reserve." Was phased out in 1999 by the 1996 Freedom to Farm Act. Congress extended it temporarily, and then made it permanent again in the farm bill that President Bush signed into law in May.
[source] $877 million in disaster relief for victims of Tropical Storm Allison.
[source] $2 million in federal recovery assistance to typhoon victims in Guam.
[source] Steel and lumber tariffs.
[source] $1.7 billion plus $300 million in emergency funds for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) via the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2001.
[source] $230 million for the Weatherization Assistance Program.
[source] Federal disaster relief for tonado victims in Maryland.
[source] Payoff to families of 9/11 victims with taxpayer money via the "Victim Compensation Fund."
[source] Bush pushes for school vouchers.
[source] $450,000 in federal funds for the Chicago Project for Violence Prevention for fiscal year 2003 on top of $750,000 in 2002.
[source] $752 million in drought aid to livestock farmers.
[source] $30 million in research grants over the next five years to develop new ways of making industrial products from plants and natural waste materials.
[source] $10 billion military reserve fund for the Pentagon.
[source] National Institute of Health to spend $24 million on a retirement facility for chimpanzees.
[source] $750,000 for grasshopper research in Alaska.
[source] $2 million to house a worm collection at the Smithsonian museum in Washington, DC.
[source] $400,000 to study manure management at the National Swine Research Center in Iowa.
[source] $4.2 million for a shrimp aquiculture research project in six states.
[source] $400,000 for the Montana Sheep Institute.
[source] $23.1 billion for the National Institute of Health for fiscal 2002, a 13.5% increase over fiscal 2001.
[source] $10 million upgrade for Amber Alerts.
[source] $1 million to upgrade a law enforcement communication system in Placer County, CA.
[source] $850,000 for a wastewater treatment facility in Placer County, CA
[source] $1.7 million to purchase 6,100 acres of land along the American River.
[source] $14 million for restoration projects in the Lake Tahoe basin.
[source] $3 million for the acquisition of land for rare plant preserves in El Dorado County, CA.
[source] $600,000 for the West Blount sewer system. (Alabama)
[source] $1 million for the Duck River Dam. (Alabama)
[source] $99,000 for sidewalk improvements at Vinemont Middle School. (Alabama)
[source] $100 million in grants for communities to develop mosquito-control programs. (pending)
[source] $753 million for Import-Export Bank.
Increased loan limit for Import-Export Bank to $25 billion. Taxpayers must guarantee loans.
[source] $159 billion deficit for fiscal 2002.
[source] $14.2 million for Phoenix Sky Harbor traffic control tower replacement. (pending)
[source] $4.2 million for Phoenix bus facilities. (pending)
[source] $500,000 for a Scottsdale pilot project to determine the best technologies for removing arsenic from drinking water. (pending)
[source] $300,000 for a Southwest Transit Assessment and Review Team (START) project for Bus Route 131, which runs through Avondale. (pending)
[source] $500,000 for Central Arizona College to continue implementation of the Science, Engineering, Math and Aerospace Academy in Pinal County. (pending)
[source] $1 million for Rio de Flag (Flagstaff) flood-control project. (pending)
[source] $1.5 million for Maricopa County's AZTech Integrated Emergency and Transportation Communications Network. (pending)
[source] Creation of new federal bureaucracy, Office of Rare Diseases.
[source] $100 per month federal subsidy to welfare parents who marry.
[source] $8 million to maintain a heating oil reserve to stabilize prices in the U.S. Northeast. This fund was created in 2000 by Bill Clinton.
[source] $2 billion over 10 years to help companies develop cleaner-burning coal.
[source] $87 billion in corporate welfare which includes (but is not limited to) funds for oil companies through the fossil energy research and development program, research subsidies to aerospace companies, the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the Foreign Agriculture Service, and the Conservation Reserve Program.
[source] $6 million for teaching English through the Elementary School Foreign Language Incentive Program.
[source] The federal government currently provides $700-800 million in annual ethanol subsidies.
[source] $37 billion through 2007 for the National Science Foundation via the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002. (pending)
[source] $15 billion for NASA fiscal 2003.
[source] $903 million in grants to spur federal agencies, industry and universities to devote more energy to cyber security research.
[source] $533 million over two years for Project Safe Neighborhoods. Billed on the official website as "America's Network Against Gun Violence."
[source] $900 million for the President's "Reading First" plan.
[source] $28.9 billion "anti-terror" package. (As if the federal government didn't already spend enough on defense)
[source] Increased FDA budget by over $120 million.
[source] $1.1 billion for federal reading programs.
[source] Proposed economic stimulus package which could cost as much as $600 billion over 10 years.
[source] Ordered military to begin deploying a missile defense system.
[source] Urged Congress to raise pay of federal judges who already earn $150,000 or more annually.
[source] Increased the National Science Foundation budget from $4.8 billion to $7.4 billion in 2005 and $9.8 billion in 2007.
[source] Proposed increasing defense spending to $378.5 billion next fiscal year from the $364.1 billion appropriated by Congress for fiscal 2003.
[source] $782 billion in new spending for fiscal 2003 above what Washington spent in the previous four years.
[source] Reinstated program to pay cash bonuses to political appointees. The program was previously stopped during the Clinton administration because of concerns about potential abuse.
[source] "Terror insurance" which would force taxpayers to compensate those affected by future terrorist attacks.
[source] Up to $3,000 for unemployed Americans to pay for their job searches.
[source] Billions to the nuclear industry to make high-temperature, gas-cooled reactors via the Energy Policy Act of 2003.
[source] $11 billion over the next 3 years to build up war capability in S. Korea.
[source] Federal deficit for fiscal 2003 approaching $400 billion.
[source] Federal grant money to renovate the Old North Church in Boston, MA.
[source] $4.2 million in grazing refunds for Montana.
[source] $8 million for firearms training for commercial pilots.
[source] $1.7 billion over the next five years on hydrogen development.
[source] U.S. government purchased data on Mexico’s 65 million registered Voters.
[source] Designated May 1 of each year as "Loyalty Day."
[source] New York City schools will get a 19% increase in federal poverty funding; an increase of $120 million to $754 million.
[source] $37.5 million in federal funds to Georgia for "homeland security."
[source] $16 million for a "homeland security" drill.
[source] Federal aid for tonado victims in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Nebraska, and South Dakota.
[source] $100 million to help states run their smallpox vaccination programs.
[source] Post office inspector general accused of wasting millions.
[source] Grief counseling to owners of poultry with Newcastle Disease.
[source] $400 million for research into paralysis.
[source] $800,000 to $1 million for the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to make circles in the ocean while George W. Bush aboard.
[source] Department of Health and Human Services gives $990,000 to a program in the Grand Rapids, Mich., area and $544,400 to Nampa, Idaho to promote marriage.
[source] Federal aid for tornado victims in Oklahoma.
[source] $1.9 to $5.3 billion to comply with 'No Child Left Behind' mandates.
[source] Hundreds of millions for a TV ad campaign by the Office of National Drug Policy.
[source] $58 million for "Operation Safe Commerce."
[source] $1.7 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (fiscal 2003).
[source] $3 million for the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency.
[source] $1 billion a year to fund 75,000 new firefighters over seven years via the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Act (or SAFER, isn't that cute?).
[source] $1 million for the relocation of Route 403, $2,500,000 for RIPTA bus replacement, $750,000 for the I-195 Washington Bridge, $1,000,000 for the RIPTA Jobs Access/Reverse Commute program, $800,000 for the Blackstone Bikeway, $500,000 for RIPTA’s ITS Transportation Center, and $600,000 for RIPTA facilities security upgrades, all in Rhode Island.
[source] $300 billion, six-year extension of highway and mass transit programs, including a $100 million-a-year incentive for states to enact mandatory seat belt laws.
[source] $2.2 billion for helping the homeless (2002).
[source] $30 million for technical assistance to help religious groups learn how to apply for government money.
[source] $6.6 billion in job training programs and services via the Workforce Reinvestment and Adult Education Act of 2003.
[source] $1 billion on an anti-drug ad campaign via the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy.
[source] $49.9 million for Grassland Reserve (2003).
[source] A new USA Freedom Corps Initiative called 'Volunteers for Prosperity'.
[source] $7.4 billion extension of unemployment benefits (2003).
[source] $95 million to spy on Americans for the government's Total Information Awareness database.
[source] $137,000 for a three-year study to study the sexual behavior of aging men.
[source] Raised federal debt ceiling from $6.4 trillion to $7.4 trillion (2003).
[source] "Wasting away in Congress" (a large list of government waste).
[source] $21 billion deal with Boeing to lease one-hundred 767 tankers...
[source] $379 million for health care programs in Wisconsin.
[source] $10 million annually from the Interior Dept to "Save America's Treasures."
[source] $500 million to build ballistic missile interceptors in Alaska.
[source] $317,000 to renovate the Old North Church, where two lanterns were hung to signal Paul Revere that the British were coming.
[source] Drug Czar John Walters used taxpayers' money to campaign against referenda and candidates who support medicinal marijuana or other decriminalization efforts.
[source] Reauthorized North American Wetlands Conservation Act.
[source] "Smallpox Vaccine Compensation Fund" to compensate people for death and injury caused by the smallpox vaccine.
FOREIGN-AID & FOREIGN INTERVENTIONISM
[source] Over 500 American military personnel killed in Iraq.
[source] Civilian deaths in Iraq due to areal bombardment, undetonated ordinance, and firearms (shooting blindly into crowds and buildings, shooting into cars that don't stop at checkpoints, etc.) estimated at 7,900 to 9,700 according to news reports.
[source 1] [source 2] Civilian deaths in Afghanistan due to areal bombardment estimated at between 3,100 to 3,600.
[source] Thousands of civilians killed, hundreds of thousands displaced by areal bombing in Afghanistan.
[source] Invaded and bombed Afghanistan without Congressional declaration of war. Only Congress can declare war.
[source] Boost in American foreign-aid by 50% to more than $15 billion annually.
[source] Meddling in Zimbabwe by threatening to withhold foreign-aid (Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001).
[source] $474 million to combat HIV/AIDS overseas, including $100 million for a global trust fund, and $200 million for international disaster assistance.
[source] $676 million for South American anti-drug plan.
[source] $800 million in assistance to independent states of the former Soviet Union.
[source] $2.04 billion in military financing and $720 million in economic assistance for Israel.
[source] $1.3 billion in military assistance and $655 million in economic assistance for Egypt.
[source] $75 million in military financing and $150 million in economic assistance for Jordan. (2001)
[source] US Senate unanimously approves $582 million payment to United Nations. (2001)
[source] $440 million to colombian military to fight drug war. (2002)
[source] $500 million in foreign-aid to Uzbekistan. (2002)
[source] $43 million in foreign-aid to the Taliban government of Afghanistan to fight the War on Drugs.
[source] $500 million in funding to combat AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean between 2002 and 2004.
[source] $255 million over two years to expand US media influence in predominantly Muslim countries.
[source] $1.5 billion bailout of Uruguay.
[source] $64 million for "Education and Equipment" program to train Georgian military.
[source] $1.1 billion loan from the U.S. International Monetary Fund to Turkey.
[source] $4.5 billion spending plan to help african nations reduce disease and famine and cultivate energy, clean water and forests.
[source] U.S. Drug Czar calls for War on Marijuana during visit to Canada.
[source] Continued sending fuel to North Korea under the 1994 Agreed Framework despite the intelligence community's suspicion that North Korea has had nukes since the early 1990's.
[source] Agreed to pay Pakistan $700 million plus an economic package in exchange for the use of Pakistani air bases from which the US launched air strikes against Afghanistan.
[source] Bush Administration withheld news of North Korea confirming its nuclear weapons program for two weeks while it secured Congressional support to attack Iraq.
[source] Threatened Canada with trade sanctions if Canada relaxes its marijuana laws.
[source] White House said pre-emptive attacks are permissible for the US against Iraq but the same logic does not hold for India which is fighting Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.
[source] White House detailed a plan to install an American-led military government in Iraq if the US overthrows the current government.
[source] $10 million in foreign-aid to the Philippines to "fight terror."
[source] Agreed to give North Korea two nuclear power reactors.
[source] $3 billion in foreign-aid for Afghanistan (pending).
[source] $320 million in humanitarian and economic aid to address food shortages in Afghanistan and in neighboring countries.
[source] $98 million in new Pentagon training and equipment for Colombian military.
[source] $120 million for UNICEF.
[source] $92 million to train Iraqi militia to take on Saddam.
[source] Renewed sanctions against Libya.
[source] Continued to send "food-aid" to North Korea.
[source] Promised a foreign-aid package to Turkey in the event of an Iraqi war.
[source] Offered $29 million and pledged to seek more from Congress to fund "modernization programs" in Arab countries.
[source] $3.4 billion in foreign-aid to Turkey in exchange for use of Turkish military bases in the event of war with Iraq.
[source] $2.3 billion over the next four years for rebuilding Afghanistan and $1 billion to expand peacekeeping forces outside the capital city of Kabul.
[source] Creation of new federal agency to dole out billions in foreign-aid.
[source] $17 million in military aid to Nepal.
[source] USAID to help educational projects of the Punjab government.
[source] Bush offers Turkey a $1 billion cash grant and up to $8.5 billion loan.
[source] $5 billion in supplemental aid to U.S. allies that include Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Oman and Turkey.
[source] $18 million to UN agencies for humanitarian work in Iraq.
[source] $2.4 million to help Tajikistan fight drug trafficking.
[source] 15,000 U.S. troops to be stationed in Australia.
[source] $8 million to the Iraqi National Congress.
[source] $4 million for television and radio broadcasts by the Iraqi opposition.
[source] $200 million to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) to purchase regional food aid for Iraq.
[source] Bush pledges an extra $100 million for Afghanistan.
[source] United States distributed $20 payments to 3,226 former, and perhaps future, Iraqi government employees in Baghdad.
[source] Paid $20 to more than 400,000 public-sector workers in Iraq.
[source] $15 billion to Africa to fight AIDS, distribute condoms, provide sex education, and fund abortion providers.
[source] $13 million to help eliminate the use of children as soldiers in more than 30 countries and to help those who were enslaved. [LV Editor's Note: A just and noble cause that shouldn't be financed with taxpayers' money.]
[source] Aid to rebuild Iraqi marshlands.
[source] $10 billion to Israel (2003).
[source] Billions in cash and loan guarantees to Turkey, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt.
[source] Military materials to Serbia and Montenegro...
[source] Possible military upgrades and weapons sales to Qatar.
[source] CIA and military aid worth millions of dollars to the Palestinian leadership to "combat terrorism."
[source] Meddling in politics in Sri Lanka.
[source] $700 million to Jordan for its support of the war on Iraq.
[source] Funding for Polish troops in Iraq.
[source] "Free trade" agreement with Singapore.
[source] Trained Colombian troops to hunt down drug dealers in Colombia.
[source] 40,000 tonnes of food to North Korea.
[source] Assisting Kenya with airport security.
[source] $62 million for the Mid-East Television Network, a 24-hour Arabic-language satellite television network.
[source] Global tobacco treaty.
[source] $50 million to Azerbaijan (2002).
[source] Handing out $1 million each day in Iraq.
[source] $356 million to the Philippines.
[source] $466 million to build two coal-burning power plants for Russia.
[source] $265 million to the U.N. refugee agency (2002).
[source] $78 million to purchase data on Mexico's voters, licensed drivers, and data on other Latin countries.
[source] $3 million in military aid to Azerbaijan which has been criticized by Human Rights Watch for committing torture.