How's the shrubbery? (An assessment of Bush)

T

TeamBALCO

Inactive
So, we've got 4 more years. How's our President doing so far?
He's obviously in favor of protecting gun ownership rights :)
He's trying to get a nationwide ban of gay marriage :confused:
He's disposed a tyrant in Iraq, and his efforts have secured a free election, which seems to be going down the right path :)
And recently, he has begun efforts to reform Social Security
:) This last one is a big issue to be. I'm very concerned with how the Social Security problem will be handled. As many as 10 years ago, I thought "Hey, why don't we have tax breaks instead of Social Security, and people can be responsible to save their own retirement money?" Obviously, this was more than a little bit extreme. I now understand the value of the system. So much so that I have devoted a fair amount of time to following the issue. And in doing so, I have become concerned. I am concerned that with the aging of the Baby Boomers, we might not be able to afford to pay their benefits. I am concerned that by 2050 (a conservative estimate) the system could be bankrupt. I am concerned that by the time I retire, I could be looking at the BAD kind of blank check, as in one big zero. Now we all know that Social Security has been identified as a "Democrat" program. In the mid 90's, when Democrats controlled the seats of power, all they wanted to do was reform Social Security. Unfortunately, partisan politics stalled this. Now, the opposite situation has occured. Republicans are trying to reform the Democrat program, and partisan politics might just stop it again. PLEASE congressmen and senators, let's fix this issue. Bush is at least talking about the issue, and it's about time. His plan can be found on the pro- Bush site www.progressforamerica.com for anyone who's still confused about it. But the most important think you will find there is that he has invited bipartisan reform. Let's not bash Bush and say he's lying, and that it's "his way or the highway" instead, let's take him up on his offer, and work together to save a great program that's in jeopardy.
 
I am happy with him too BUT

With todays media if President Bush invented the cure for ALL cancers, the media would put him down for putting all the lab rats out of work.
 
Get Lost.Obviously enough people liked him well enough to bring him back.
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And considering the choices the Democrats gave America its no wonder Bush won the election by a rather comfortable margin.Troll.
 
you forgot to mention that he has done nothing about the illegal immigration problem and infact is wanting to reward those criminals with his "guest worker program" why doesnt he just call it amnesty, thats what it is.
 
The only way I would agree with everything the president does is if I were the president and making the choices. Even though I support a machinegun in every garage, America hasn't voted me into the oval office.

Bush isn't doing all that bad, IMO. It's real easy to complain and whine, but I don't hear any better solutions coming from the democrats or any other source. If you have a solution, get into politics and/or mass media and get your word out.
 
Serious? :D

If the republikans didn't own all three branches of government, he'd be impeached.

For lying to his bosses (us) about the war (and so many other things).

For failing to take seriously warnings (specific warnings) about al qaida's plans to attack us.

db
 
Bush the brilliant!

I like this forum and I have read many posts that have given me excellent information. The one thing that stands out here is that all of the members are just regular folks who help eachother. The thing that I find amazing, coming from Australia, is that because the Bush administration seems to favour the gun lobby, most folks here seem to go along with all the other stuff his administration does too.

Fact is, the republicans don't favour the gun lobby, they favour arms manufacturers. If a bunch of restrictive legislation was brought in, it would supress demand for guns on the domestic market, which would be substantial. So does anybody care that the Bush administration has repealed the tax laws relating to estates and inheritance for multimillionaires? These same rich guys don't have any of their kids on the streets in Fallujah or anywhere else they might cop an RPG in the guts. No way! they're at home counting the wealth that they can accumulate in perpetuity, not share with a nation at war.

Also, the fabulous Social Security changes that the Bushies were going to institute were very similar to the Superannuation setup we have in Australia now. Any type of state assistance is MEANS tested so if you have enough assets, you get no old age pension or social security payments if you're out of work. Here we have superannuation payments taken out of our pay, no option. These payments are put into private accounts and invested by the company with some institution of their choice. If your involuntary investment does bad, tough, if it does good, great. It's out of your hands. The end game is, the Government hopes that by the time you hit retirement, you've accumulated enough assets to have your pension cut, along with any other old age benefits. It's destruction of social security by stealth and beleive me, you won't be better off. In good investment times you might do OK but when the climate for investment turns bad, you better make sure you can get the canned dog food you like best. Now, before you label me a "Bleeding heart Liberal" remember this, my country is governed by a "Liberal" government which here stands for arch conservative, right wing politics and I'm here to tell you, I aint no Liberal. So if you feel like responding to my post, address the issues not the perception.
Issues:
Do you support the removal of the estates tax?
Do you support the stealth destruction of your Social Security system (your taxes are in there!)
Do you support a ruling elite who are not prepared to share their wealth or family members to the Iraq war?
 
Do you support the removal of the estates tax?
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Yep. I support the removal of all taxes.

Do you support the stealth destruction of your Social Security system (your taxes are in there!)
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Yep. (Stealth?) At least he is making an effort to give the average citizen more influence over their own money.

Do you support a ruling elite who are not prepared to share their wealth or
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Share wealth? Why should they give me or anyone else their money? Do I have a right to demand someone else give me their wealth?

family members to the Iraq war?
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There is no draft. No one I know has been forced to join the military and ship off to Iraq.

is that because the Bush administration seems to favour the gun lobby, most folks here seem to go along with all the other stuff his administration does too.
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I do not agree with Bush and his position of gun control. I can live with his current position of not passing any new laws.
 
Do you support the removal of the estates tax?
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Absolutely. What's "fair" about the estate tax? If a man manages to build up an estate worth a million dollars, he's already paid his property taxes on that property every year, and he's paid his sales taxes on everything he's acquired. How in the world is it "fair" if his children can only inherit this free-and-clear property by paying the government fifty percent of the assessed value of the estate, or be forced to sell the property if they can't afford to pay that tax out of pocket?

Do you support the stealth destruction of your Social Security system (your taxes are in there!)
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Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, and its fiscal collapse is a mathematical certainty. Anyone who tries to tell you different is either afraid of you socking it to them at the ballot box, or blessed with the economics and math aptitude of a fourth-grader, or both.

Do you support a ruling elite who are not prepared to share their wealth or family members to the Iraq war?
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As someone else pointed out to you, nobody in this country has been forced to sign their voluntary enlistment contracts.

And what's this "sharing their wealth" stuff? What gives you the idea that I have a right to a portion of another man's earnings, just because he makes more than I do?

Oh, and don't make the mistake of thinking that I'm a Bush supporter, just because I oppose these things. There is more to life and philosophy than brand A or brand B statism.
 
I wouldn't worry too much about illegal aliens. When Allan Greenspan gets through inflating us the dollar will be on parity with the Yen and we'll be sneaking into Mexico to work. Same thing will fix social security, with people's full pensions being worth just enough to buy a loaf of bread each month.

Of course if we don't fix the estate tax it is going to be pretty rough when a two bedroom house is worth ten or fifteen million bucks.
 
I wouldn't worry too much about illegal aliens. When Allan Greenspan gets through inflating us the dollar will be on parity with the Yen and we'll be sneaking into Mexico to work. Same thing will fix social security, with people's full pensions being worth just enough to buy a loaf of bread each month.
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10.4 on that, a long supporter of the republician party I "will" change that
in 2008.
 
Marko, I must strongly disagree with you on the inheritance tax. If anything, it should be taxed more at the upper levels of wealth than it already is. Why should Bill Gates be able to give his kids all his wealth tax-free? - this will just create more sharp disparity in the haves and have nots over time, without regard to the MERITS of the person - it will result in a total buergouise vs. proletariat situation that leads to revolution. Bill Gates's kids should have to stand on their own 2 feet, and earn their own damn money - if they're lazy worthless losers, then they'll be poor eventually, like other lazy worthless losers - why should they get the silver spoon their whole livess? Aren't we a *meritocracy*? Bill should spend his money and enjoy life to the fullest while he's alive, by all means - he's earned it! And his kids will ALREADY have the advantage of the finest schools, universities, and upbringing that money can buy - they're already at a major, major advantage over a hard-working, intelligent poor kid who wants to play by the rules, but is limited to public school, and if he's lucky, a cheap public university, then saddled with student loans to boot. And Bill Gates and others who have worked hard and deserve to have what they have, are *already* passing $600,000 tax-free upon their death, and that's not even counting all the millions given in inter vivos gifts, tax-sheltered gifts, and aformentioned upbringing and finest education available. When Bill Gates is dead, he's DEAD. No longer living. He has NO use for his money while in that coffin. So why should his progeny be rich beyond belief for several generations until its squandered, without lifting a single solitary finger to contribute to society and the economy? This is one thing I vehemently disagree with republicans on, and one reason I really despise the party - in addition to the farces like the war on some drugs, the so called war on terror, failure to stop illegal immigration, and complicity in destroying the 10th amendment as bad or worse than Democrats. Make no mistake - Bush sucks hairy sweaty gonads, but slightly less hairy and sweaty than the gonads that Kerry sucks. Bush deserves some credit for at least *trying* to bring the Social Security fiasco to the forefront, and a few other things, like his lukewarm pro-gun stance. But Iraq aside, the Republican congress and Bush are completely ridiculous in the stance on the Terry Shiavo issue - because the bible says (which republicans believe in), that when a woman marries a man in holy matrimony, she leaves her parents family permanently and clings to her husband, forming a new family. If that's the case, then the woman's HUSBAND's authority is controlling (regarding her healthcare proxy wishes), NOT her parents' wishes/authority. So the christian conservatives are being completely hypocritical and contrary to the bible by supporting the parents of Mrs. Shiavo. Godsakes, let the poor woman go in peace. Ridiculous. Just one of many issue the repubs are wrong on.
 
Bush 2 is the best president we've had since Regan. Too bad most folks are not smart enough to realize it. I'm sure Owl Gore or Mr. Purple Heart would have screwed thing beyond belief. I believe either of those two idiots would have cause an Inserection within the Borders of the US. But at least I believe that if you earn it it's yours and government confiscation and redistribution of wealth is Pure BS and only Little Greasy Communist or Junior High Hall Monitors love it.

Jungle Work
 
So Bill Gates's kids SHOULD get every penny and be far far richer than you or your kids and grandkids would ever dream of being, for several generations, without lifting a finger of work? Maybe that's what you believe, and if so, then great - you're being consistent and forthright - but I'm just trying to understand your true stance on the issue is.

you earn it it's yours
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Right. Exactly. That's why the income tax should be eliminated. But when you're DEAD, it is by definition, no longer YOURS. You're dead, and thus incapable of owning anything, because ownership means dominion and control, and being worm food, you cannot exercise control, nor enjoy your money. So the question is, do we have a meritocracy, where we stand on our own 2 feets after we leave our parents' nest - and the playing field is level for all kids, rich and poor, once they reach the workplace? Or, OTOH, do we have a robber baron system, where the rich only get richer without working, because they earned a huge inheritance sitting in the bank earning interest, while the poor stay poor? I dunno - you tell me.
 
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