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This week's edition of U.S. News & World Report asks: Is George W. Bush's presidency shaping up to be one of the worst in U.S. history?
"You hear the question being asked more and more these days. And more and more, you hear the same answer," Jay Tolson writes in the magazine. "With Iraq a shambles and trust in the administration declining, it is probably not surprising that 54 percent of respondents in a recent USA TODAY/Gallup survey said that history would judge Bush a below-average or poor president, more than twice the number who gave such a rating to any of the five preceding occupants of the White House, including Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter."
He is one of the worst. I dont know about the worst. But he isnt alone in that regard. Many of his ideas are shared by former presidents. They just didnt have the means to implement them in their time. Or they werent surrounded by as much scrutiny so they were able to get by unnoticed much easier.
Not that its the most important thing in the world but Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania's economies are the worst I have seen in my entire life. Whatever this administration is doing, its killing Ohio's economy like ive never seen before.
Last edited by the_pines; 02-23-2007 at 04:20 AM..
Media scrutiny of presidents in the modern era have caused the public to become more aware of a president's shady activities and personal life. I think it started with Nixon and has become more invasive with every presidency. Now it's a fact of life, so any future presidents should take notice and be on their best behavior, at least while in office.
I'm not defending Bush; I think he's the worst in my lifetime, but I might not have been able to realize that without the intense media coverage.
Do any of you have specifics as to what has caused Bush to be considered one of the worst, in your eyes, other than Iraq?
You mean like the faith based initiatives that pander to a conservative base, the hypocritical "uniter" attitude that does more to divide this country than unite, the (un)Patriot Act, the subversion of US laws and policies like illegal wiretaps, Geneva Conventions, denying the Writ of Habeas Corpus to detainees, appointments like AG Gonzales who’s made comments to the Senate Judiciary Committee implying that rights that are not granted in the Constitution are not Rights guaranteed to the people, whining about the judicial appointments by trying to bypass the Constitutional Advise & Consent role of the Senate, using the Terri Shiavo case as a puppet and flying in to sign the bill (symbolic gesture as he could have had a cheaper courier or fax) yet waited days before flying over the Katrina damage. These are just a few among many.
Do any of you have specifics as to what has caused Bush to be considered one of the worst, in your eyes, other than Iraq?
I personally dislike the man because he was a HUGE supporter of former U.S. Senator Rick Santrum (R-PA), who always made Pennsylvania look like a redneck state with his comments about not thinking that women should be working and comparing homosexuality to polygamy and pedophilia! If President Bush holds these beliefs, then I likewise don't support him. Some of the most influential people in corporate American, and, yes, even POLITICS, are women and mothers, and I can't even fathom telling them that they should be staying at home! Similarly, I'm a gay person who never fantasized about sleeping with minors (well, at least not since I became an adult), nor am I incapable of a monogamous relationship! Santorum was defeated by a landslide in the last election; what a shame he couldn't take Bush with him!
I had to edit it down to the requisite number of characters. It's fixed now.
Thank you. But, did you actually read what was in the article you provided? It's full of inaccuracies and ideological demagogory. For example, tax revenues increased 11.7% in '06 compared to '05, when it increased 14.6% over '04. http://www.ustreas.gov/economic-plan/ (broken link)
Carter was pretty bad, but at least he acted in good faith. W is pretty bad but has a habit of running his agenda up the flagpole and painting as unamerican anyone who doesn't buy his schtick. Still, the economy was a disaster by the time Carter got done with it, and the Iranian hostage crisis was obviously handed very poorly by Carter, as the Iranians held up releasing them until Reagan was sworn in. So I'll give the nod to Carter as the worst, at least in the modern era, but W is a not-very-distant second.
I guess I lived through a different Carter administration than th eone you remember. The Iranians deliberately stiffed Carter and waited until the very day that Reagan was inaugurated to release the hostages. Later, Reagan thanked them very well in the Iran/Contra deal. My guess is that Carter refused to enrich the Iranians and pander to them the way Reagan did.
As for the Carter economy, the thing he gets the biggest rap for is the high mortgage rates. A quick check of historical interest rates from the US Treasury Dept shows that the really high rates did not kick in until after Reagan's disastrous tax cuts. In those days, when the government cut taxes and started to borrow their way out of the mess, there were fewer foreign lenders than today. The Treasury Dept borrowed all the available domestic savings and drove up the interest rates. The only reason that hasn't happened again under Bush is because most of the borrowing is being done from foreign creditors like China and Saudi Arabia, who are getting close to owning our economy. Interest rates were high under Carter, but not even close to what they were under Reagan.
Finally, Carter was one of the best when it came to negotiations with the Middle East; we were much better offf in that region at that time than we have been since.
Now, if you want a President worse than Carter, look no further than Reagan.
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If President Bush holds these beliefs, then I likewise don't support him. Some of the most influential people in corporate American, and, yes, even POLITICS, are women and mothers, and I can't even fathom telling them that they should be staying at home! 
Similarly, I'm a gay person who never fantasized about sleeping with minors (well, at least not since I became an adult), nor am I incapable of a monogamous relationship! 
Santorum was defeated by a landslide in the last election; what a shame he couldn't take Bush with him! 
