What I Don’t Like About President George W. Bush
By Randall Nunn (01/23/04)
Like many conservatives, I have been concerned and distressed by some of George W. Bush’s policies and actions, particularly on the domestic front. For me, probably the most distressing of all was his signing of the so-called campaign finance reform law, or McCain-Feingold.
This was made worse by the recent Supreme Court decision upholding some of the worst features of that law. As a result, all of us have lost a measure of political freedom and first amendment rights. It would have been so easy to veto the bill and save the country from this terrible state of affairs, but political expediency trumped “doing the right thing”. This action and the consequences are very disappointing and will forever upset me.
There are other Bush actions that are also of concern. Not acting quickly and decisively to replace holdovers from the previous administration who use their positions in the bureaucracy to oppose the administration and frustrate its policies is another area of concern. Replacement of bureaucrats who do not support an administration’s policies is a proper action if the policies of a new administration are to be effectively implemented. Yet we continue to have ideological opponents of compassionate conservatism holding positions where they frustrate and delay the effort to limit the expansion of government. The president needs to move to put his stamp on the bureaucracy before the opportunity is gone. This is not just a matter of pursuing his policies but also an obligation he owes to his supporters. He governs the entire country but in so doing he should follow the principles he espoused in the campaign.
The president has also been a “spender”, contrary to the expectations of many of his supporters. The government spending – not counting defense spending – has increased over that of his predecessor. This spending and the expansion of the Medicare program and other government programs, such as education, are causing a great deal of unease among conservatives. The tax and regulatory burdens from government are close to intolerable now and these programs will very likely increase the burdens on future generations to the breaking point. Who would have expected a conservative Republican to emulate Franklin Roosevelt or Lyndon Johnson on social spending?
There are other issues that upset me, as well as large segments of the conservative electorate, such as support for continuation or expansion of certain gun control measures such as the so called “assault weapons” ban and the failure to move quickly on implementing the “guns in the cockpit” bill passed by Congress. The fact that many give credit to the millions of NRA members for Bush’s victory in 2000 should cause him to study this issue carefully and base his positions on the constitution and common sense of the American people. The gun control issue is, in the final analysis, the truest and best indicator of a true conservative and a supporter of individual liberty. The Bush administration’s record on this issue has been better than most recent administrations but many worry that the president’s support is without the firm conviction many would like to see.
Another are of concern is the tendency to pander to interest groups and constituencies that are the politically correct groups of the moment – minorities, illegal immigrants, the education lobby, environmentalists and other similar groups. Most Americans suspect that the $15 billion to combat AIDS in Africa will go down a rat hole and will have no impact. Should the president be giving such sums of money for such high-sounding but ineffective programs, just so he can get some good press? The blunt-talking president on national security needs to be equally frank on the domestic side.
All of this having been said, I am not ready to desert this president over disagreements on these issues. President Bush is still light years ahead of any of his present political opponents by any measure you want to use and has performed admirably since September 11, 2001 in protecting this country and our way of life. Yes, I get frustrated by the occasional pandering and politically-correct pronouncements but when I see the pictures of him flying into Baghdad to share Thanksgiving with American troops and listen to his 2004 State of the Union message, I come away with admiration and respect for the president and the job he is doing. And when I look at the field of Democrat opponents vying for his job, the decision to be made in the voting booth this November is as clear and sharp as a bolt of lightning in the middle of the darkest night.
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