Don’t Forget The Last 8 Years, America
September 8, 2008 · Print This Article
Today for the first time since April 14th 2008, John McCain has taken the lead in the average of the past week of National Polls in the U.S. Presidential Election according to RealClearPolitics.
This fact concerns me greatly due to the many domestic and foreign policy similarities John McCain has with the current U.S. President George Bush. John McCain is in the same political party as the President and voted with the President’s position 95% of the time in 2007.
During George Bush’s eight year administration we saw:
- U.S. Debt Go Up: The U.S. National Debt increase from $5.7 trillion to $9.6 trillion (from 58% to 66% of the annual GDP).
- U.S. Annual Deficit Go Up: A change in the U.S. annual federal deficit from a $125 billion surplus in 1999 and a $236 billion surplus in 2000 to a $412 billion deficit in 2004, a $318 billion deficit in 2005, a $248 billion deficit in 2006, and a $162 billion deficit in 2007.
- Hurricane Katrina: 1,836 Americans die due to Hurricane Katrina, many of whom died to FEMA mismanagement before and after the storm under Mike Brown formerly the Judges and Stewards Commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Administration, from which he also was forced to resign.
- A War on False Pretense: The invasion of Iraq based on incorrect intelligence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction including yellowcake uranium that was known to be suspect at the time and sought out and used by Vice President Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld to sell the war to the media, American people, and global community, which Colin Powell indicated later was “deliberately misleading.”
- U.S. Deaths from War: 4,155 Americans die in combat in Iraq.
- U.S. Wounded from War: Over 30,000 Americans wounded in combat in Iraq
- Iraqi Deaths from War: At least 600,000 and as many as 1,200,000 excess deaths of Iraqi civilians since the July 2003 invasion (Source 1, Source 2, Source 3)
- Revealing a CIA Agent’s Identity: The purposelful revealing of CIA Agent Valerie Plame’s indentity to the press by Dick Cheney’s Chief of Staff Scooter Libby, and the subsequent Presidential commuting of Libby’s prison sentence to a fine.
- Suspension of Habeas Corpus: The unconstitutional suspension of the rights of Habeas Corpus including prisoners seeking relief from detention without trial.
- Breaking of the Geneva Convention: The breaking of the laws of the the Geneva Convention, which was ratified as U.S. law, and the U.S. War Crimes Act of 1996 regarding torture in Iraqi prisons and the detainment of enemy combatants at Guantanamo.
- Greenhouse Emissions Increase: The Kyoto Protocol, to which the U.S. is a signatory, never submitted for ratification, in part leading to higher carbon dioxide PPM to continue to increase, leading to faster increase in global temperatures, which is leading to sea levels rising and more frequent droughts and hurricanes
- Osama Never Found: Osama Bin Laden never to be found, who is the founder and leader of Al Qaeda and the major architect of the September 11 attacks in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania which caused the deaths of 2,974 people, 2,646 of whom were Americans.
- Energy Prices Increasing: Gas prices increasing from a low of $1.04 in December 2002 to a high of $4.05 in June 2008 (from $1.45 at the beginning of the term in January 2001 to $3.66 as of September 1, 2008).
- Rumsfeld’s Resignation: The hiring Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in the first Bush Administration, who responded to a question from a soldier about not having the right equipment and armor by saying, “You go to war with the army you have, not the army you want.”
- Torture by U.S. Soldiers: The torture at Abu Ghraib prison, which included sodomy with a baton, urinating on a detainee’s leg, smearing feces on a detainee, forced masturbation, applying electric shocks to detainees, and jumping on a gunshot wounded leg.
- The Decline of Veteran Care: The decline of Veteran Care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
- Withdrawal of Miers Nomination: The nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, who had never before been a judge and had very little experience with Constitutional Law at the time of nomination.
- Resignation of Gonzalez: The appointment of Alberto Gonzalez as U.S. Attorney-General, forced to resign in 2007 after politically motivated firings of U.S. Attorneys, who in 2002 wrote an opinion that the Geneva Conventions prescriptions on torture did not apply to Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners and in 2005 lobbied for the continuation of an illegal NSA wiretapping program targeting U.S. citizens without proper warrants.
- U.S. Inflation Increase: The annual U.S. Inflation Rate go from 3.37% in January 2001 to 4.43% so far in 2008.
- Unemployment Increase: The U.S. Unemployment Rate go from 4.2% in January 2001 to 6.1% today.
I’ll be posting more about my current views on the policies and the candidates leading up to the election.
Where I Am Coming From
For the sake of sharing where I am coming from, I am registered as an Independent and am a businessperson and entrepreneur from North Carolina. My father was an Episcopalian priest and my mother was a social worker. I am a fiscal conservative who believes in efficient government and cares about equality of opportunity and helping others. Please feel free to comment. Facts and discussion of policy and issues is very welcomed.
I’ve been reading along for a while now. I just wanted to drop you a comment to say keep up the good work.
Ryan;
I found your notes quite interesting. Many thanks. I suspect you might find a friend or two moving away from your relationship due to contrasting thoughts. There must be some cliche’, however, about ‘Fairweather Friends’.
You live in a geographical area which heavily supports Senator Obama; don’t let the overwhelming support for him there blind you to the need to work fervishly for what you believe. Many in the rest of NC (and even many in our Nation) believe otherwise with the same or a greater intensity.
Meanwhile, I’m glad you shared your ideas for consideration. I’ve long held that if one is not working to overcome the problem one is part of the problem.
Also, I’m glad you didn’t lower yourself into the state of sexism. Sexism is a horrible disease many have; it ranks right up there with racism as far as I’m concerned. As someone who once voted for Barbara Jordan, Geraldine Ferraro, and Hillary Clinton, there are some great leaders in our Nation who are or who have been women. I found this to be true especially when I provided undergirding support for the founding of a NOW chapter in Johnstown, PA and later provided further support for a Women’s Health Clinic - much to some of my friends discomfort.
I’m certainly concerned with the present VP nominees of both the Republican and Democratic Parties and will continue to seek each nominee’s credentials. (Sorry, the Independent Party has no chance of being elected this time to the Presidential or Vice Presidential offices.) In my final decision when it comes to vote, I’ll simply ask which of the two VP nominees would I wish to be my President upon the unexpected death of their Party’s Presidential nominee. And, don’t take for granted a candidate will outlive the terms of her/his office.
With regards to your list, check #4: the intelligence was correct by other countries and was initially correct by some within the CIA; however, it was changed by the Republican leadership within the Bush Administration.
Check also #6: As a former chaplain in the US Navy Reserve, I am appalled at the mistreatment of our military personnel who have and are returning from foreign battle zones. First of all, the treatment many and their families are receiving is so lacking it’s almost incomprehensible to me! Second, some of the facilities to which they are returning are appalling; I wouldn’t let an animal be warehoused in the conditions to which some of our worthy vets have returned…and I used to periodically hang out at the Bethesda Naval Hospital. It’s one thing to say, “God bless our troops.” It’s another to more importantly treat each of them with the dignity and excellent care they deserve.
Lastly, and I didn’t see these two elements in your listing, I’m concerned as to the quality of Supreme Court nominees the next administration might offer and the ability to move nominations through Senate.
First of all, I’m a fairly strict interpreter of the Constitution and the laws of our Country. If we’re to have such nominees as Harriet Myers and Alberto Gonzales put forth by a Presidential Administration, I’m scared for the legal and justice system of our Nation. These nominees should also not be submitted based upon a one issue stance. There are certainly better qualified persons whose names should be forwarded.
Secondly, if one believes many of our Republican office holders and most of the Democratic officeholders, this House of Representatives and Senatorial election should be an overwhelming sweep by the Democrats. The election of a Republican Presidential Administration would continue to forbid our Nation in positively acting on any law initiated by either of the two branches of Government designed so to do. The present stalemate would continue. We deserve better than that.
Thanks for sharing. Thanks for letting me share. I dearly appreciate both.
Your Dad+
Lots O things to address here… perhaps I’ll just tackle a few and hope to inspire some additional thinking.
While I’m registered Republican, I have much more Libertarian tendencies. I’d vote for a Democrat above a Republican if it seemed reasonable… I don’t tow any party’s line.
You put a lot of numbers out there but very little in the way of context. For example, Reagan’s deficit went up but few would argue that his spending did less than topple the USSR. Was it worth it? That’s debatable. But the numbers themselves do not stand alone.
Also, wars cost money. So comparing Clinton’s Deficit to GWB’s is less accurate than comparing Apples to Oranges. Again, some context there would be useful. 9/11 did not happen with Clinton so trying to compare those two financially seems [conveniently] lacking.
Clinton got to leave as the market was taking a serious nose-dive. To place the monetary responsibility of those actions on the inbound President also seems to conveniently give Clinton a pass. But… I have to indicate that GWB’s inaction on the housing market will leave the next President in a similar state. Would it be fair to judge the inbound guy on the troubles left behind by the previous? The fact that GWB’s deficit is as low as it is seems rather remarkable in my view, given what he inherited and experienced during his tenure (including his bad decisions!)..
If you want to support Obama, you should, and with vigor. But if you want to be objective, you ought to call things as they went down, not how they can be twisted to support your need. Any thoughtful person will see through that and it acts as a negative point against your candidate.
Look, I’ve really enjoyed following your career and writings (I’m really impressed by your insights!) but my feeling is, you’re above this sort of one-sided post. I’m hoping it is passion-inspired which can cloud the logic in anyone’s mind. If you don’t like GWB / McCain for some reason, that’s all good. Sometimes it can be purely subjective. But telling one side of the story is beneath you, assuming I’ve got you read properly.
Thanks for listening. And for me, I’m still undecided.
Hey Tom. The Iraq war was of course a choice of Bush’s. Clinton left Bush with a $236B per year surplus. I feel it is more than fair to hold Bush accountable for the large majority of the $3.9 trillion in deficit spending that has occurred while he was in office.
I just heard you at a seminar yesterday and you were fantastic.
I am even happier to go to your website and see you address politics - it is too important not to! We need to get away from rhetoric and calmly address issues so people can make the right decision. We need the SMARTEST person possible to make decisions.
I am a registered Independent also, who supports Obama because he seems to deal with facts, reality and science. One example: Global Warming is REAL, and we need to take major actions immediately - not drill more and burn more fossil fuels. The droughts/food supply problems/fresh water problems and flooding/devastation caused by a warming climate will make today’s problems look like child’s play unless we do something about it.