Bush ended up failing by pushing: 1)Medicare expansion,
2) TARP, and the Auto Bailouts, 3) In hindsight I was incorrect as well-but on the Iraq war (not the war on terror in general, just going to war against Saddam Hussein).
4) Several other liberal failures like Harriet M.
Bush Jr. was no Ronald Reagan!!!
Well, I think each is a fair argument. I can argue points 1 and 3, but there are valid arguments on either side. The Medicare expansion in itself has validity, and it is an issue he clearly ran on. It also was well crafted to stay within budget...and provided a missing component to health care for seniors. On the other side, it further expanded government involvement in health care and was not paid for with additional taxes or reallocation.
For the war, it was a mistake only in that it was much more complicated than any war plan scenario. The goal was mutually agreed across both parties over two presidencies. The execution was good initially. The long term problems clearly stated. A middle east without Saddam is far better than one with him. Notice how much less attacks there are in Israel post Saddam...he’s not funding them anymore. He and his family were tyrants and the world is much better off with him and his sons gone. Strategically, it also was good to have our presence on either side of Iran. That was squandered by the current buffoon with no residual bases. That said, the Iraq war has had an overwhelmingly negative influence on our politics as it opened the door to Pelosi, Reid and Obama getting a large majority and ushering in horrible policies including Obamacare. The long term effects of that war may likely haunt the nation of a hundred years and be a part of his demise.
Your #4 is spot on...and I ended up abandoning Bush when he nominated her and when he went on that terrible offensive to push amnesty. He had a horrible second term on everything except the surge strategy that he adopted to save the Iraq effort. I used to think he also got two good justices in during his second term, but Roberts ended up a catastrophe who has somehow been compromised. He had a good start, but his record since Obamacare’s decision has been nothing short of catastrophic.
Your points on Bush are all legit. The problem is, someone could put together a nearly equal negative list on Reagan with his amnesty, a bad Supreme Court nomination and more. No president is going to be perfect. Bush would be in a much better position historically if they had better communicated, especially in the second term. They squandered a good reelection victory and 55 seat majority in the Senate in a matter of months, and two years later, the far left was running Washington.