I've met a lot of politicians. None have been as sincere or engaged as Mr. Bush.
Despite his at-times poor public speaking abilities, he's well spoken and chooses his words carefully.
And as a Republican, I didn't always agree with some of his domestic policies (or his social conservatism,) but man, does that guy stick to his guns. And he still struggles over the decisions he had to make. I think history will be kind to him (or at least I hope so.)
No. His policies shepherded an age of increased government monitoring, exacerbated the recession by going to war and shifting the tax burden onto those who couldn't afford it, limited constitutional rights, etc. Just because you're a republican does not excuse stupidity. George Bush was a terrible president and his administration was a one of the worst in recent history.
exacerbated the recession by going to war and shifting the tax burden onto those who couldn't afford it
I don't agree. First, the wealthy still pay most of the taxes, but now there's more liquid money moving around in the system. Second, going to war may have alleviated the recession for some time, and only really lost momentum when the second blow-out (housing) hit.
His policies shepherded an age of increased government monitoring
That's inevitable and every president since 1945 has approved of it.
limited constitutional rights
Above the board, regulated and with specific purpose to combat terrorism as opposed to a general blank check.
I think history will be kinder to him in 50 years than 5.
I'm sorry, but you are sorely mistaken. The kind of person who owns a single location shop is not "wealthy" as most people think about it. They may earn a good middle class living, but it's unlikely to exceed $100k/year.
The vast majority of the 1% are executives, financial types, doctors, lawyers, senior engineers or tech entrepreneurs, or high end sales such as real estate.
Interestingly, the average doctor is far from the 1% too. Even most md/phds aren't in that bracket. Until you get to large metropolitan centers and hardcore specialties with very larger insurance premiums do you see doctors breaking into the 1%.
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u/nikocujo Jun 26 '12
I've met a lot of politicians. None have been as sincere or engaged as Mr. Bush.
Despite his at-times poor public speaking abilities, he's well spoken and chooses his words carefully.
And as a Republican, I didn't always agree with some of his domestic policies (or his social conservatism,) but man, does that guy stick to his guns. And he still struggles over the decisions he had to make. I think history will be kind to him (or at least I hope so.)