Grading George W. Bush

Grading George W. Bush

by Dave Whitaker, the Twiggs Times

By the time you folks read this, George W. Bush will have completed his first month as president. I thought now might be a good time to go back and look at his first month, and grade him on important areas like cabinet positions, social policy, tax policy, education policy, and foreign policy.

Cabinet Appointments- C. Gale Norton is a former Libertarian Party member, and has been an advocate for property rights. That will be a welcomed change from the Clinton Administration's policy of the environment over the rights of property owners. But the appoint of John Ashcroft was seen as a bad move by those who like civil liberties, and that dislike has been confirmed given Ashcroft's commitment to the war on drugs. Christie Todd Whitman's liberal social views don't disqualify her from being EPA Chief, but her belief that the federal government has a role in a medial procedure (she is in favor of federal protection for abortions) makes one wonder if she will wish to keep a federal role in how businesses interact with the environment.

Social Policy- D. Bush deserves praise for stopping federal funding of family planning clinics that do abortions overseas simply because it cuts out wasted and unconstitutional spending, and also is one less place where the United States is unnecessarily involved overseas. And his idea to make it easier to give to faith-based charities by doing things like increasing tax credits is admirable. But the idea to directly fund faith-based charities with government tax money is a bad one. It tangles up private charities in government red tape, and could very well restrict the abilities of charities to do it's work, because if they get money from the government, they would have to follow government regulations on how the money would be used.

Education Policy- F. Simply put, it's more big government. Federal standards, federal accountability, only allowing children to leave under-producing schools after three years? His education proposal does nothing to get the federal government out of the education system, when they are one of the biggest reasons why schools are in the mess they are today. If Bush wanted to help parents and children with their education, he would give back the money budgeted for education back to the parents and let them decide where they wanted to send their children to school.

Tax Policy- B. I wish the tax cut was bigger. I wish there were more spending cuts. I wish that the tax cut had a plan which would reduce the size and scope of the federal government to its constitutional limits. That being said, Bush's $1.6 trillion dollar tax cut is a start in the right direction, and his determination to get the entire tax cut passed is something commend him for, because America can use a tax cut. The question is, will it pass, and will he continue to stick to it as Democrats continue to howl?

Foreign Policy- C. Bush has backed off of trying to force a peace deal between Israel and Palestine, a good move. But he seems all-to-willing to continue the U.S. Policy of slapping around Iraq, which winds up killing innocent people in the process. Unless there is solid proof of a threat from Saddam, Bush should strongly reexamine our policy toward the nation. Because it's really foolish to continue to slap at Iraq, all the while allowing the person who is supposedly the problem to continue to rule, and continuing to waste U.S. money, and putting U.S. lives at risk.

Overall Grade- D. Bush ran basically as a moderate, and is governing as such. He's been honest, but that doesn't mean his policies are any good.



	home Grading George W. Bush by Dave Whitaker, the Twiggs Times By the time you folks read this, George W. Bush will have completed his first month as president. I thought now might be a good time to go back and look at his first month, and grade him on important areas like cabinet positions, social policy, tax policy, education policy, and foreign policy. Cabinet Appointments- C. Gale Norton is a former Libertarian Party member, and has been an advocate for property rights. That will be a welcomed change from the Clinton Administration's policy of the environment over the rights of property owners. But the appoint of John Ashcroft was seen as a bad move by those who like civil liberties, and that dislike has been confirmed given Ashcroft's commitment to the war on drugs. Christie Todd Whitman's liberal social views don't disqualify her from being EPA Chief, but her belief that the federal government has a role in a medial procedure (she is in favor of federal protection for abortions) makes one wonder if she will wish to keep a federal role in how businesses interact with the environment. Social Policy- D. Bush deserves praise for stopping federal funding of family planning clinics that do abortions overseas simply because it cuts out wasted and unconstitutional spending, and also is one less place where the United States is unnecessarily involved overseas. And his idea to make it easier to give to faith-based charities by doing things like increasing tax credits is admirable. But the idea to directly fund faith-based charities with government tax money is a bad one. It tangles up private charities in government red tape, and could very well restrict the abilities of charities to do it's work, because if they get money from the government, they would have to follow government regulations on how the money would be used. Education Policy- F. Simply put, it's more big government. Federal standards, federal accountability, only allowing children to leave under-producing schools after three years? His education proposal does nothing to get the federal government out of the education system, when they are one of the biggest reasons why schools are in the mess they are today. If Bush wanted to help parents and children with their education, he would give back the money budgeted for education back to the parents and let them decide where they wanted to send their children to school. Tax Policy- B. I wish the tax cut was bigger. I wish there were more spending cuts. I wish that the tax cut had a plan which would reduce the size and scope of the federal government to its constitutional limits. That being said, Bush's $1.6 trillion dollar tax cut is a start in the right direction, and his determination to get the entire tax cut passed is something commend him for, because America can use a tax cut. The question is, will it pass, and will he continue to stick to it as Democrats continue to howl? Foreign Policy- C. Bush has backed off of trying to force a peace deal between Israel and Palestine, a good move. But he seems all-to-willing to continue the U.S. Policy of slapping around Iraq, which winds up killing innocent people in the process. Unless there is solid proof of a threat from Saddam, Bush should strongly reexamine our policy toward the nation. Because it's really foolish to continue to slap at Iraq, all the while allowing the person who is supposedly the problem to continue to rule, and continuing to waste U.S. money, and putting U.S. lives at risk. Overall Grade- D. Bush ran basically as a moderate, and is governing as such. He's been honest, but that doesn't mean his policies are any good.