Free Republic

NEW ORLEANS — Republicans head into 2012 united in their disdain for an unpopular, Big Government-loving, internationalist president. The name of that president: George W. Bush. From Capitol Hill to the statehouses to the presidential primary, Republicans are turning their back on almost every important accomplishment of the Bush administration.

As lefties gloat over the political implications of Osama bin Laden’s demise, and the media ramp up an “Obama bounce” meme, conservatives should politely but persistently shift the conversation from politics to policy. In my latest column for Townhall, I draw on a number of fascinating news accounts elucidating how the our military and intelligence community finally nailed bin Laden. US officials describe a “mosaic” of intelligence that ultimately led a team of Navy SEALs to a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan — suggesting that it took many years and myriad sources to pinpoint bin Laden’s precise location. As we now...

Like most Americans, I am a descendant of immigrants and a grateful beneficiary of the opportunities available to our nation's citizens. My grandparents emigrated from Mexico in the early 20th century seeking a better life, and they found it working in the fields and dairy farms of Texas. Diversity is one of the great strengths of the United States -- diversity fueled by the migration of ethnicities, cultures and ideas. Today, however, there is virtually universal agreement that our immigration process is broken. While security on our southern border has improved in the past decade, it remains inadequate in a...

Mad About Obamacare? Blame BushBy Philip Klein on 3.21.10 @ 11:27PM They did it. Despite an overwhelming public backlash and the likely political ramifications, Democrats cut deals and twisted arms and got the votes they needed, winning by a 219 to 212 margin. While the reconciliation process still remains, it’s a sideshow at this point. The United States is a presidential signature away from having national health care. Suffice it to say, as somebody who has spent the past year working to expose the devastating consequences of this legislation and who values individual liberty, this is a sad day....

When former President George W. Bush addresses the Economic Club of Grand Rapids in June, will he be riding a wave of nostalgia? New York Times columnist Stanley Fish points to a few signs that Bush's image rehab has begun. One literally is a sign -- a billboard in Minnesota with an image of a smiling, waving Bush and a message that reads, "Miss Me Yet?" He also notes a Newsweek cover story that vindicates Bush's Iraq policy, "Mission Accomplished" and everything. Fish writes that Bush nostalgia, if it indeed exists, is the result both of Bush's relative silence since...

At least someone in America isn't feeling a credit squeeze: Uncle Sam. This week Congress will vote to raise the national debt ceiling by nearly $2 trillion, to a total of $14 trillion. In this economy, everyone de-leverages except government. It's a sign of how deep the fiscal pathologies run in this Congress that $2 trillion will buy the federal government only one year before it has to seek another debt hike—conveniently timed to come after the midterm elections. Since Democrats began running Congress again in 2007, the federal debt limit has climbed by 39%. The new hike will lift...

Activists are expressing disappointment with President Barack Obama’s plans for the Aids treatment programme in Africa, charging that he has fallen short of the achievements of his predecessor, George W. Bush. Obama pledged to increase Pepfar spending by $1b a year, but in his first budget, called for only $165m in new funds. Gregg Gonsalves, a leading US anti-Aids campaigner, warned an audience in New York last week, “I am about to say something shocking: I miss George W Bush.” “President Obama has all but failed to fulfil his commitments to wage an aggressive battle against global Aids,” a coalition...