If this is success, I don’t want to be around when these guys sober up and admit failure.
George Bush was sworn in this morning as president and in the Capitol they are getting ready to “put on the hog” as the Good Ol Boys say down Red State way. Even though he has the lowest approval rating of any President at the start of his second term since World War II except Richard Nixon, Bush’s corporate cronies have ponied up more than forty million bucks for a hoedown to ring in a second term and celebrate the “Bush mandate.”
Some mandate. According to a new Washington Post – ABC News Poll, less than half (45 percent) of Americans approve of the direction President Bush wants to lead the Country. On key measurements of his performance, Americans give the president failing grades. Fifty eight percent of Americans disapprove of his handling of the war in Iraq, 52 percent disapprove of his handing of the economy, and 58 percent disapprove of his handling of the budget deficit. (Note to Democratic consultants, can some one again please explain to me how we lost the election?)
But hey, every President deserves a coronation, so let’s party. But before the fat cats line up at the trough, maybe Americans should just take a quick look at what the first four years of the Bush administration brought us. Personally, I’m not sure we can handle another four.
From Boom to Bust
Under the administration of President Bush:
- The Budget for the United States Government has changed from a projected surplus of $236 billion in 2000, to a record budget deficit of $415 Billion according to the Congressional Budget Office.
- According to the U.S. Department of Labor, America has suffered a net loss of more than 175,000 jobs since 2000. President Bush is the first president to lose more jobs than he gained since Herbert Hoover.
- 36 million Americans are living in poverty – five million more Americans than the 31 million Americans reported living in poverty by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2000.
- 45 million Americans have no health insurance - 1.4 million more than just last year, and more than 3 million more than when Bush took office.
From Peace to War
On President Bush’s watch:
- More than 3000 Americans were killed in the worst foreign attack on U.S. soil in its history.
- Osama Bin Laden, the perpetrator of the attack remains at large
- Either on purpose, or through incredibly bad judgment, President Bush rushed the United States into a poorly planned and executed war with Iraq.
- Despite the Bush Administrations proclamations of the imminent threat posed by Iraq, no weapons of mass destruction have ever been found, and no connections between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaida have ever been identified.
- More than thirteen hundred U.S. soldiers are dead and thousands more are gravely wounded.
- More than 100,000 Iraqi’s have been killed.
- The United States has spent at least $150 billion on the war in Iraq to date and is projected to spend at least $ 80 billion more next year.
From World Leader to International Pariah
- The war in Iraq has fueled an armed insurgency in Iraq and angered the Muslim world. Many experts have called the War a “recruiting poster for terrorists.”
- The war in Iraq damaged relations with longstanding allies and eroded the world’s trust and respect for America.
- Torture scandals at Abu Ghurayb and Guantanamo Bay have shocked the world and damaged the moral authority of United States.
- Worldwide public opinion of America has never been lower. According to an AP Ipsos poll published in December 2004, more than 6 in ten residents of some of our historic allies say they are worried about the election of President Bush. (Germany (72%) and France (68%). Six in ten in Canada (62%), Spain (62%) UK (61%) Three-quarters or more in France (75%) and Germany (80%), and two-thirds in Canada (68%), Spain (68%) and the UK (64%) say President Bush plays a somewhat or very negative role in world affairs.
Unfortunately, the list goes on and on. It’s not a record of achievement, it’s a train wreck. Hang on folks, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
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