[Howie]

Dear Cato Institute, who the hell do I vote for now?

[plain talk]

They raise good points. Unfortunately they left out a huge part of the equation - the gutless wonders in Congress.

[widowithfoursons]

Hello??? Only Congress can spend $. Clinton was restrained by the Republican House.

[WyldKard]

It's all very sad, because it's true. In many ways, Bush the Second has been a tremendous disappointment to the Conservative cause. Sometimes I honestly wonder if he's any better than Gore would have been, at least economically speaking.

[Deuce]

Reps PRETEND to be for limited government. Dems PRETEND to be for the common man. But, is anybody really surprised that both Reps and Dems favor BIG government of, by, and for their BIG contributors? Since they always get away with it, don't expect 'em to change.

[lavaroise]

CATO is comparing apples and oranges. Was there a 911 during Clinton years? Did Clinton inherit a mess after BUsh? I don't think SO!

[skeeter]

The Cato Inst may have a point here, I don't know. But they are so out to lunch on immigration issues that, for me anyway, they've lost all credibility.

[hflynn]

When the numbers are added up, in fact, it looks like President Bush is less conservative than President Clinton.

In fact, looks can be deceiving. I notice no mention of the largest tax increase in history implemented by Clinton almost immediately after being elected which in and of itself makes George Bush fiscally more conservative than Clinton for all time. I notice no mention of the selective application of tariffs on steel and lumber which in effect makes exemption easier to get than a divorce in the Dominican Republic. The Cato institutes conclusion is absolute BS.

[LaBelleDameSansMerci]

These findings are not surprising in the least. The Republican Party plays the role of Palace Eunuch--to the Democrat Party's Caliph.

Palace Eunuchs, pranksters all--giggling among themselves--can, occassionally, spoil some of the Caliph's grand designs.

But if, by some strange palace intrigue, they should find themselves sitting in the Caliph's throne----well---you know they are still eunuchs and therefore cannot create anything---much less a social, economic or political revolution.

So they continue the Caliph's practices, keeping the Caliph's throne warm until the new Caliph arrives and relieves them of the responsibility for which they are physically and psychologically unsuited.

Then, the Eunuch goes back to what he does best---whispering bits of gossip along the long corridors of power; flirting with the harem; playing pranks on the Caliph until that Caliph eventually dies of a stroke and the Eunuch has to nervously perch on the throne for a few years until a new Caliph arrives who can get it up.

[WhiteGuy]

I don't think comparing bush to clifton is really fair.

bush's big government socialist spending stands on it's own as wrong.

From inside the fiscally conservative camp, our president and the gop have left the building.

I can hardly wait to see what happens to our paychecks once our military invades iraq........

thats going to cost hundreds of billions for years to come.

Ron Paul in 2004

[RightWinger]

Yep, Dubya isn't the Conservative that the right had hoped for.

[dead]

Bush has been an absolute disaster in the area of spending.

He hasn't been all that hot in the area of respecting the constitution either.

But, hey, at least he kicked some ass in Afghanistan and he routinely tells the UN and the environmentalists to shove it, in polite diplomatic language.

Overall, I'd give him a B minus or a C plus, depending on my mood.

[gcruse]

Posted, as one would expect for
an article this old, elsewhen.