Posted on 12/22/2007 12:49:03 AM PST by JohnHuang2
Against all odds, and despite the usual drumbeat of criticism, President George W. Bush has had a very good year. The troop surge in Iraq is succeeding. America remains safe from terrorist attacks. And the Goldilocks economy is outperforming all expectations.
At his year-end news conference, President Bush stated with optimism that the economy is fundamentally sound, despite the housing downturn and the sub-prime credit crunch. The very next day, that optimism was reinforced with news of the best consumer spending in two years. The prophets of recessionary doom, such as former Fed chair Alan Greenspan, Republican advisor Martin Feldstein, ex-Democratic Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers, and bond-maven Bill Gross have been proven wrong once again.
Calendar year 2007 looks set to produce 3 percent growth in real GDP, nearly 3 percent growth in consumer spending, and over 3 percent growth in after-tax inflation-adjusted incomes. Meanwhile, headline inflation (including food and energy) will have run at 2.5 percent, with only 2 percent core inflation.
Jobs are rising over 100,000 per month and the stock market is set to turn in a respectable year despite enormous headwinds. Low tax rates, modest inflation, and declining interest rates continue to boost Goldilocks, which is still the greatest story never told.
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
Nonsense.
No president has faced bigger challenges - a war on our shores, losing the largest number of civilians since the Civil War? An undeclared world war with your legislature the biggest obstacle to victory? A fighting force that is a fraction of that used in WWII? The real (not phony that Kennedy faced) prospect of nuked American cities?
As much as I love President Reagan, he lost the only opportunity to do something meaningful in this war when he left Beirut.
The bar that GWB is hurdling is that set by FDR, and FDR had a media that wouldn't even tell the people that he couldn't walk, much less that he was having a affair in the White House. Plus, FDR (wrongly) had a lot more latitude - can you imagine our President putting muslims in a concentration camp?
Please. God willing, we will win this war, and when that happens decades from now, historians will look at what GWB did in Iraq as the beginning of the end.
Ditto.
No sooner was he settled in than George W. Bush got 9/11 dumped on him, making his presidency the most striking good-thing-turned-bad since Carrie was voted prom queen.
I’d like to see anyone play that hand better. The economy is strong; the enemy is on the run; the Supreme Court is beefed up by two young conservatives; over 20 million people are de-loused of their tyrants.
If we had a Rushmore for presidents’ sons, Adams and Bush would fill it completely. And that’s another thing for which GWB is given too little credit: it isn’t easy being the child of someone prominent in ability or wealth. The silver spoon can be a disadvantage, a blight on character. Then, any good you’ve done, people say it’s due to your privileges of birth.
So, all in all, I’m kind of sorry to see him go.
Pay attention, naturalized. The discussion is much better when you do that.
Someone said “best president since Reagan”.
I said (referring to HW and Clinton) that’s a low bar.
You said: nonsense, and then went on to proclaim the achievements of W, as if my “low bar” remark was a critique of W, which it wasn’t.
I specifically mentioned daddums and the bent one in response to the concept “Best since Reagan”.
You are free to set your own bar if you want, bringing up FDR, but that’s not what I was responding to.
“Best since Reagan” MEANS comparing W to daddums and bent-Bubba.
In regards to THAT comparison, W is free to get one of those staples buttons and smack it hard: THAT WAS EASY!
But what about the porous border and Ramos and Campeon?
You make some good points — although Hariet Meirs was awful and a really stupid nominee on W’s part — but the real failing in W’s time in office has been his inability to articulate his visison, speak to the nation, and make the case for his policies. This has allowed the storyline throughout his second term to be about W’s low approval numbers, lack of support for the war, “wrong track” trendline, and overall pessimism. I know Reagan faced similar difficulties, but then he would go to the nation and take the bully pulpit to make his case. Remember “tax cuts and the deficit” — his simple charts showing how growth would turn that around? Remember him explaining his walking away from the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty talks because of his insistence on keeping Star Wars? Masterful.
That’s what’s been missing from the W Administration... unfortunately from day 1.
I’m proud to say that I’ve had a refrigerator of Bush’s photo on my fridge for almost ten years. No matter the issue and I’ve disagreed with him on many, I always felt he was an honest moral man who loves his country and it’s people.
And to really appreciate GWB’s accomplishments (07, et.al.), just look forward to what’s coming in the future (based on the current offering of candidates).
I share your perception.
I like Larry. I went to bed election night 2004 with only his prediction of a Bush reelection.
He has the pulse of America
LOL! You must be reading two threads at once, tlb, since this one was right on topic...discussing how the year was for President Bush.
There’s a reason I always love your posts: they are the voice of reason and cool common sense. Thank you, and thank you again!
Also no one owns a thread and thread hijacking is bunch of ignorant selfish crap. Take the blinders off. If you are at the FR to live with your head in the sand, you came to the wrong place.
Bush was dead wrong and it would have been just a big of a mistake as Reagan did in the 1980's. We miss Ron but Bush's failure on the border issue would have been 10X worse than Ron's failure.Sorry, bmwcycle, but I'm not really following you here, particularly your use of the word would, twice.
Are you saying that Bush didn't make a mistake on the border issue, that a mistake on his part would have been bad?
I'm not trying to argue, I just don't get what you're saying.
Exactly and he did a great job this year dealing with those spineless criminals in congress
You may have hated his solution, but he was Man enough to offer the only solution in 100 years. Thanks to poisoning the issue will be the only solution offered in the next 100 years.
Merry Christmas to W and Our Troops
President Bush has a lot to be thankful for this Christmas. General Petraeas and our troops came through big time. And the Democrats controlling the Senate and House have proven to be the most unpopular Congressional majority of all-time. The economy is doing great, but the federal government remains a bureaucratic nightmare. It could be worse, but it can be a whole lot better too.
Freedom still reigns supreme.
God bless America.
Merry Xmas, JohnHuang2.
Not bad for a President who is supposed to be a lame duck.
Bush will be remembered as one of our great presidents and the Congress (both sides ) will be remembered as one of the worst and most shameful (a tall order). Like all Humans he far from prefect but we are about to see how bad it can be.
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