A honest nonpartisan evaluation of the Bush white house

[Triton]

In the spirit of nonpartisanship and frank debate, I present my top ten list of current Bush achievements.

1] Signed into law the largest entitlement increase in my lifetime, prescription drug benefits to the elderly. This multi-trillion dollar increase is guaranteed to become a budget buster.
2] For the first time in American history, a president has declared war on a sovereign nation based on the theory of pre-emption. This concept was last used by ***an when they bombed Pearl Harbor. Inexplicably doesn't apply concept to Iran(the major known sponsor of terror) which gains nuclear capability while he blusters).
3] For the first time in American history, a president declared war on an act (terrorism) rather than a country. Given that terrorism will never end, he has entered America into a war that will never end or will end in defeat.
4] In a SOP to his big banking contributors, he signed a law that exempts all credit card debt from bankruptcies, nullifying the entire point of bankruptcy.
5] In a time of war, he has not asked the American people to sacrifice. Instead he has lowered taxes and increased domestic spending. This is a first in American history.
6] First president ever to openly advocate torture as means of combating terror.
7] Has attacked freedom of the press by going after the press when it prints information that proves the administration has engaged in illegal acts. Interesting concept.... make it a crime to report on the administrations crimes. Nice.....
8] First president to openly advocate that his enemies have no rights or protections whatsoever.
9] Actively aided in the export of technology and jobs to China and India. The effects of this this will be felt for generations to come.
10] Once and for all proved that the Republican Party is no longer the party of fiscal conservatism.

ORIGINAL: Triton

In the spirit of nonpartisanship and frank debate, I present my top ten list of current Bush achievements.

1] Signed into law the largest entitlement increase in my lifetime, prescription drug benefits to the elderly. This multi-trillion dollar increase is guaranteed to become a budget buster.
2] For the first time in American history, a president has declared war on a sovereign nation based on the theory of pre-emption. This concept was last used by ***an when they bombed Pearl Harbor. Inexplicably doesn't apply concept to Iran(the major known sponsor of terror) which gains nuclear capability while he blusters).
3] For the first time in American history, a president declared war on an act (terrorism) rather than a country. Given that terrorism will never end, he has entered America into a war that will never end or will end in defeat.
4] In a SOP to his big banking contributors, he signed a law that exempts all credit card debt from bankruptcies, nullifying the entire point of bankruptcy.
5] In a time of war, he has not asked the American people to sacrifice. Instead he has lowered taxes and increased domestic spending. This is a first in American history.
6] First president ever to openly advocate torture as means of combating terror.
7] Has attacked freedom of the press by going after the press when it prints information that proves the administration has engaged in illegal acts. Interesting concept.... make it a crime to report on the administrations crimes. Nice.....
8] First president to openly advocate that his enemies have no rights or protections whatsoever.
9] Actively aided in the export of technology and jobs to China and India. The effects of this this will be felt for generations to come.
10] Once and for all proved that the Republican Party is no longer the party of fiscal conservatism.

Give me a break. A honest nonpartisan??? Some true, but mostly exaggerated

[Fox72]

Why do I shudder and look for partisan commentswhen I hear non-partisan?

[CalHunter]

I don't see how this is non-partisan and somebody else has already commented about the exageration verse honest issue. Even the attempt to portray these items as "achievements" is less than honest from a non-partisan aspect. If you would have said your top 10 problems or mistakes of the Bush White House or something to that effect, I would grant you your opinion even though i disagree with it.

[MountainHunter]

I don"™t see too many exaggerations in Triton"™s post, but it"™s certainly not unbiased.

Number 4 slightly exaggerates; credit cards are not the entire point of bankruptcy. But the new bankruptcy law heavily favors the wealthy by not addressing the tactics they use to avoid declaring assets (and actually created some new loopholes for the wealthy that want to avoid declaring assets).

I guess item 8 is a slight exaggeration, he"™s only saying that about certain enemies, but the way the current torture bill reads, he could apply it to almost anyone he wants to, which is scary, IMO (remember, this law will outlive Bush"™s Presidency, folks).

Number 9 is not an exaggeration, but certainly not new or limited to Bush"™s Presidency; Clinton did this, too, and Bush I, etc.

Number 10 hold up for the moment, but I don"™t know about "œfor all"� part.

I really do think it"™s ironic that the Republicans quote "œfiscal responsibility"� when they try to save $100 million by stopping Federal funding for public television, but then give tens of billions out in cost-plus Federal contracts to their buddies who aren"™t even supposed to be eligible to bid (because they"™ve defrauded the government in the past), without going out for competitive bids.

IMO the only true achievement for the Bush Presidency has been no more terror attacks on American soil after 9/11. I think this is more due to luck and the hard work of those in the field than any of the policy mind farts the president has come up with. BUT it"™s happened on his watch, so I think I have to give him at least some credit.

Really can"™ t think of anything else Bush has accomplished:

a) GDP has been growing by about the same amount as what we"™re borrowing to finance the Federal deficit.
b) Median incomes have been stagnant, and in some cases declining, once inflation is accounted for.
c) We didn"™t finish the job in Afghanistan before we diverted our resources to Iraq.
d) We"™re in an illegal (by international standards and law) war in Iraq that has made most of the world hate us and is helping AL Qaeda recruit terrorists faster than we can possibly kill them.
e) We still don"™t examine the vast majority of containers coming into our ports.
f) We have record numbers of people crossing our borders illegally 5 years after 9/11.
g) Many of our freedoms have been encroached upon for very dubious reasons.
h) We have two countries (Iran and North Korea) with insane leaders that are going nuclear and we can"™t do anything about it because our troops are tied up in Iraq, which never posed a serious threat to us.

I think that a recurring theme here is that Bush doesn"™t understand having limited resources. I think that come from his upbringing and has been reinforced by having rich, influential buddies bail him out and clean up his mess every time he screws up. Now, to pay them back, he bankrupting our national treasury for them

By the way, I"™m not a Democrat; I don"™t care much for them, either. I"™m an independent. Once upon a time, I actually worked for the Republican Party in Texas.

[Champlain Islander]

ORIGINAL: MountainHunter


By the way, I"™m not a Democrat; I don"™t care much for them, either. I"™m an independent. Once upon a time, I actually worked for the Republican Party in Texas.

If you are an Independent then this one is for you. Here is a picture depicting the lone Independent US House of Representative Bernie Sanders (Socialist) with a few of his friends. I hope you really mean you are non partisan.

http://bernie.house.gov/multimedia/display.asp?f=20060207002&n=oil&c=6

Sanders Joined by Venezuelan Ambassador at First Fuel Delivery under Discounted Heating Oil Program (2/7/2006)
Rep. Bernie Sanders joined Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez, CITGO CEO Felix Rodriquez, Citizens Energy President Joseph Kennedy, as well as representatives from the Vermont Fuel Dealers and the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity for the first fuel delivery under the new discounted heating oil program established by Congressman Sanders and the Venezuelan government. The delivery was made to the John Graham Emergency Service Shelter in Vergennes, Vermont. Under the deal brokered by Sanders, more than 2.5 million gallons of discounted home heating oil will be brought into Vermont. 2.4 million gallons of the oil will be sold at a 40% discount to individual participants of Vermont"™s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Crisis Fuel Assistance Program, and the WARMTH Program. The remaining 108,000 gallons of fuel will be distributed free of charge to homeless shelters throughout Vermont.
Pic 1, from left to right: Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez, Congressman Sanders, CITGO CEO Felix Rodriquez, Citizens Energy President Joseph Kennedy
[align=center]To view a high resolution version, click on the picture.[/align]





1.

[LBR]

Due to a lack of time, and honestly not being familiar with some of these accusations, here's my 2 cents.

First, as has already been pointed out, the very title of the thread is false--kinda sets the stage on whether or not to trust the information presented.

3] For the first time in American history, a president declared war on an act (terrorism) rather than a country. Given that terrorism will never end, he has entered America into a war that will never end or will end in defeat.

So what is your solution? Bomb an asprin factory? How many acts of terrorism have we had to deal with since President Bush declared war? Should we just throw up our hands and surrender, since we just can't win?

4] In a SOP to his big banking contributors, he signed a law that exempts all credit card debt from bankruptcies, nullifying the entire point of bankruptcy.

I don't know the details on this one, but using just a tad of common sense, it makes sense. It is (or was)a common practice to apply for (and recieve) all sorts of credit cards and max them out before declaring bankruptcy. I know a guy that's done it. Should we just let folks go on a major shopping spree for free just before they file bankruptcy?

5] In a time of war, he has not asked the American people to sacrifice. Instead he has lowered taxes and increased domestic spending. This is a first in American history.

And this is a bad thing? Unemployment is very low, the economy is very good, interest rates are low and stable, the stock market is doing just fine.....what's your point?

6] First president ever to openly advocate torture as means of combating terror.

Several things here, I'll hit a few. First, what definition of torture is correct? Where did you see this (back it up in other words)? And if it saves American citizens and soldiers lives, I'm glad he's got the backbone to push for it (if your statement is indeed factual).

7] Has attacked freedom of the press by going after the press when it prints information that proves the administration has engaged in illegal acts. Interesting concept.... make it a crime to report on the administrations crimes. Nice.....

Again, prove it. The press is unreliable at best, and President Bush has more than enough enemies to guarantee prosecution if he breaks a law.

8] First president to openly advocate that his enemies have no rights or protections whatsoever.

And this is based on? I may be wrong here, but what I've seen and heard he's said they shouldn't be afforded GC protection (seeing how they never signed on to it and fall under the definition of illegal combatants, regardless of the SC ruling), and they shouldn't be given rights afforded to U.S. citizens under the U.S. Constitution. Do you think they should be given the same rights as U.S. citizens? Shoot, they are only trying to wipe us off the face of the earth--certainly we should offer them the same priveledges that our soldiers have fought and diedfor overthe last 200 years.

Gotta scoot--my son has a football game. Ya'll have a nice weekend.

Chad

[AJ52]

A Total misrepresentation filled with partisan Bias.

To name just a few

1. Why not to the elderly.

4. Did you ever think why and what the majority of credit cards are used for.Think outside the box.

5. Why not lower taxes.The other side has always had the Tax & Spend mentality.

6. Not worthy of comment as the admin has NEVER advocated or uttered such words.If so post the exact quote here! BTW the previous topic(s) on this subject were laughable.

8.When did he "openly advocate" anything of the kind.
Very simple - they are independant Terrorists that don't belong to any nation,country or gov't.They are a mix of world wide Terrorists - therefore where are the rights under any international agreements.Also refer to LBR comments on this.That should cover it.

9.I don't like this any more than most Americans.However If not exported than you go "Belly Up".Its basic economics - A harsh reality of staying solvent and in the black.This is what happens when you pay some knuckle head 50-60k a year to do what a chimpanzee could be trained to do in 30 minutes.

BTW - Thats MY observation

[cameronmclain]

This sould be titled

"A Dishonest Partisan Fiction of the Bush (who I hate) White House"


What a joke. If you're going to be a liberal at least come up with some facts supporting your ill-informed ideas.

[James B]

I didn't see even one point that was completely true. Most partisan post I have seen. Nice try but no cigar.