Bush was a disaster when it came to domestic spending. Karl Rove, a legend in his own mind, was the one pushing such things as the prescription drug program, no child left behind, etc. in order to co-opt Dem issues. It didn't work and we are left with enormous programs with huge unfunded liabilities. Bush scarcely used his veto for most of his term, during which he enjoyed Rep control over Congress.
The RINOs in Congress who sent him all that spending? The corrupt Delay leadership that passed out entitlements like candy? And exactly how was President Bush supposed to muster the political capital to fight this war and at the same time succeed against all of this foolishness?
The buck stops in the WH. It is something called leadership. Bush could have vetoed McCain-Feingold. Instead, he signed it and then issued a statement about his reserverations about its constitutionality. He supported amnesty against the majority of his own party and failed to support Sensenbrenner' enforcement only bill [HR 4437] in the House.
I look at Bush's record and I see a guy with balls of steel, who kept us safe and who advanced this war against radical Islam in ways that won't be fully evident for many years. We have lost nearly 5,000 precious American lives, but any objective counting of the enemy casualties in the decade after 9/11 will rise to more than 1 million worldwide, especially if we include intra-terrorist fighting, and with trillions of dollars in losses to those we wage war against.
I support his foreign policy and the war in Iraq, but I have a difficult time reconciling that with his failure to move quickly on securing our borders, including fully implementing the US VISIT program to track and deport visa overstays. If this country is hit again with a 9/11 attack and it is found that the perpetrators came into this country thru our porous borders or thru a visa overstay, then you might want to reevaluate how safe he really made this country.
To husband his scarce political capital for this effort, he ended up punting on some issues that are dear to conservatives, and that I believe he would like to have tackled.
An amnesty will destroy this country with the stroke of a pen, and yet, Bush in his validictory expressed regret that he couldn't get it done. This is insanity.
And oh, what he could have accomplished but for the weak, unprincipled, and corrupt fellow Republicans who should have been at his side but were not!
Sorry, but loyalty begets loyalty. Bush took stances against the majority of his own party on critical issues. And he failed to use the Congressional majority he had to make some real changes. And now he leaves office with a Rep party in disarray and in the minority, perhaps for generations. I was particularly dismayed with his appointment of Martinez as RNC Chairman, a slap in the face to conservatives.
Kabar,
What truly seems to upset you is Bush’s immigration policy, since that is what you refer back to repeatedly. I’m not fully on board with that either. But I have four responses ...
First, Bush did not create this problem. Reagan did, Bush and Clinton made it worse, and unless I am mistaken this was not an issue that got all that much media attention or political capital until roughly 2005. Aside from a handful of Republicans like Tancredo, who else was pushing this aggressively before then? My only point is that there is lots and lots of blame to go around. I’m not defending Bush. But I’m also unwilling to lay all of the blame at his feet. The venom and invective that is focused entirely on Bush is simply stupid.
Second, Bush’s recent efforts at enforcement have been quite effective, judging by demonstrated empirical evidence. This is the first real progress in a quarter-century. I would find those who hate Bush’s immigration policy more credible and sympathetic if they would give him his props ... It’s important if only to keep those efforts going. To say that Bush has come through with too little too late effectively invites the Obama Administration to drop the effort.
Third, Bush and Rove are right that we must formulate immigration policy in ways that do not alienate Latinos, Asians and other demographic groups. Our immigration policy can not be punitive. It must be hopeful. Now ... I don’t agree with the balance that Bush has tried to strike. Like you, I think it is too soft. But the truly hateful positions that I see put forward on this site will doom the GOP to minority status for decades to come.
Fourth, everyone wants their own agenda items. I want the war prosecuted well and with no holds barred. You may want immigration reform. Others might want lower taxes. Bush’s popularity gave him virtually no political capital. Let’s be real.