The Bush Record

The 2004 Presidential record, as the Bush junta claimed, was "about the record."  Bush won the election -- barely -- by 51-49 percent.  Throughout the campaign, the Bush mob did everything possible to keep the focus off his record -- rarely did Bush or anyone campaigning for  him speak about his record.  Instead, the 2004 Presidential election consisted of:

•  Bush and Cheney telling us that a vote for John Kerry was a vote for terror.
•  Bush and Cheney telling us that we must be afraid, very afraid.
•  Vicious, lying attacks on John Kerry.

And it worked.  Bush and Cheney instilled so much fear in the electorate and the "Swift Boaters" did such a hatchet job on Kerry that Bush won a narrow victory -- although there are still indications or Republican vote fraud in Ohio.

UPDATE:  The 2006 election was a turning point.  In the mid-term election, George Bush was repudiated as no other president before him had been repudiated.  Not only did the Democrats win a majority of seats in the House and Senate, but not a single incumbent Democrat was defeated.  Republican candidates ran away from Bush -- essentially, no Republican candidate wanted to be seen with him.  Finally, it seems, his record began to sink in.

Here are the high points of the Bush record -- or maybe we should say "low points."

• The economy is fundamentally unsound with record household debt levels, budget deficits and trade deficits threatening growth. Rising oil prices exacerbate these problems, but they are in no way the cause of the economy's problems, as Greg Mankiw and other administration officials would like to lead us to believe. Instead of trying to reinterpret economic realities, the administration should take responsibility for its actions and forge a realistic plan that will avoid another recession in the near future. America's working families have not yet reaped the benefits of this recovery, and they can ill afford a further slowdown.
  • 26 August 2004:  The Census Bureau releases data showing the real results of George Bush's "economic recovery:"  More people in poverty, more people without medical insurance.  Some recovery.
  • Meanwhile, the Bush junta is now cooking the books on the U.S. economy.
  • Compare George Bush's economic performance with John Kerry's economic plan.
     
• Within months of taking office, the Bush administration moved to kill or weaken a host of Clinton-era safeguards, including medical privacy protections, new energy efficiency standards, and ergonomics rules to protect workers, just to name a few. More than three years later, the rollbacks continue, showing no signs of letting up. What special interests want, they get– leaving the public to pay the price. 
   
• The Bush administration has mounted the most far-reaching attack on public education ever -- they have attacked every aspect of public education from pre-school through graduate schools and technical-vocational schools.  Read about it here.
   
  • Study after study, analysis after analysis is showing us that Bush's seductively-named No Child Left Behind act is a failure -- total and complete.  So, what does the Bush junta want to do about it?  Why, it's their usual answer -- stay the course, more of the same.  Are they out of ideas or just stupid?
     
• Bush and his apologists talk about "record-breaking economic performance."  If you carefully select the data and misrepresent the same data, the Bush economy is charging ahead.  If you look at facts, the only thing the Bush economy is breaking is middle and lower income families.
   
• The alley-cat ethics of the Bush administration were on display in early October 2004 as a former Air Force official -- appointed by Bush -- went to jail for rigging bids in favor of Boeing, her future employer and the employer of her daughter and son-in-law.  Her sentence has led to further investigations of the incestuous Bush-Boeing relationship. 
   
• The Bush foreign policy record -- I almost asked "What Bush foreign policy record?"  But, let's be kind and take a look at what passes for foreign policy in the Bush administration.
   
•  The war in Iraq is now recognized by everyone except Bush and a few loyal followers as the most disastrous foreign policy failure in our history -- and still he pours soldiers and billions of dollars into this lost cause.  As of January 2007, Bush is putting another 20,000-plus soldiers into Iraq in an effort that everyone, including the generals on the ground, says will fail.