Well, it's been 5 years almost to the day that the Bush Administration (with a little help from the Supreme Court) seized the United States from its citizens. Without listing my opinion of successes and failures, let's just ask ourselves two questions: 1) Are you better off today than you were 5 years ago? 2) Will things be better or worse at the end the Bush Presidency?

Both of my answers are negative.. 'nuff said

The WORLD is a much worse place thanks to Bush.

i would say worse to both, but that might be uncharitable; after all, he did give unique insight through his "creative" command of the english language..

I went to the Freedom Center in Cincinnatti Ohio, and they have a big wall where you write and draw pictures about freedom etc. One said How many killed by Bush, and another said Millions liberated by Bush. They both were taken down. Just thought I might say. Personally I don't believe that much good has come from the Bush administration. Let's hope he thinks a bit more in the years to come.

Why should he start thinking now?

Bush has certainly been quite successful with influencing a lot of people to hate America/ Americans. His appointed agents (such as FEMA) have caused us shame. And oh, yeah, thanks for the gas prices; doing nothing about terrorist threats and info from the FBI in 2001; causing this ridiculous religious uproar about morals; intiating a new current prejudice against homosexuals; and a war that we should not have pursued.

Congratulations and Happy Anniversary Mr. President. I'm sure the next president will enjoy cleaning up your mess.

The destruction of small businesses, farms and commodities due to inflated fuel prices but hell, a walking population is easier to contol....

Lapi'che

Other than the fuel prices, I am better off than before.

Bush is not an idiot. he plays an idiot.


He is martyring(sp) his reputation for the grand administrative scheme. He is fine with that. It's part of the plan.

so stop calling him an idiot. start calling him minipulative and evil.

Okay, he's a manipulative and evil imbecil.

Tax cuts worked for me. I'm keeping more of my paycheck. Aside from that, eh.

In some cases I think he has done a good job, but in regards to relations with the rest of the universe, I think he has blown it rather badly.

I personally get the feeling that he is up to no good most of the time; I wouldn't trust him if I knew him in real life, and I sure do not trust him as the leader of the US.

Tax cuts are nice, but looking at the budget, I can't see it as working very well; who knows how many trillions we will be in the red at the end of 2008, and I have no idea how you can pay all of that back...

Regardless of who wins the elections, it is a matter of rate to a dismal end, rather than a change of ends. So the answer to both questions is worse. However, I think less worse than if Gore or Kerry were in office. Yet, both parties, with or without conspiracy seek to reduce citizen rights and increase government control of the citizens. Democrats and liberals desire control through "personal health and income security", and Republicans and extreme conservative desire control through "national security". Both are tracking on a collision course to make the US Declaration of Independence and Constitution as effective documents as the Constitution of the USSR. A lot of good words, but the methods of applying them has nothing to do with the actual meaning of the documents.

The Supreme Court wouldn't have had to get involved if it wasn't for Gore's saying even before the election that he would tie up any problems in the courts. I can't believe that's being layed on Bush too. That's a complete lying revision of history.

But anyway...

I'm MUCH better off than 5 years ago. Much.

The state of things after his presidency, while not entirely dependant on him, I fatalistically say will be worse. As globalization approaches, things will only get worse.

Actually my wifes' and my income has jumped dramatically in the last 5 years. So we are better off. I like his tax cuts and some of his stands on the economy. Now, his foreign relations suck. I do think he is not the smartest bulb, but you can't blame everything on Bush. It takes alot more then one person to screw up a nation.

Personally I like keeping and making more money. thumbup

Allow me to rephrase the question, if you will, to are we (The US, the planet) better off now than we were 5 years ago?

Another: How do you feel about the distinct probability of Dick Cheney becoming the next US President?

Cheney would never get it. Even I don't like him. I'd vote for Hillary first.

I didn't realize all of the folks on this site were multi-millionaires reaping great rewards from the tax cuts they speak of( thanks to Rove and Cheney); I am truly in the presence of greatness! For all of the brilliant businessmen to take time out of their busy days managing their fortunes and respond to, let alone read, these forums, indicates to me that they are in fact true geniuses at maintaining their financial dynastys! The administration would be proud, and you are all true Americans.

Wait let me get this straight..... It's president Bushes fault that radical islamic terrorists hate america? If you knew your history then youd know weve been hit by these terrorists for the last 30 years and it came to a head on 911. Just because the fact that Bush was in office while the major attack came dosent mean its his fault.

Who's a multimillionaire? I'm middle class, but tax cuts meant I had a larger tax return and less taken out. Yeah I like it.

you have to be a multimillionare to be doing better for yourself?

Anyway, the new questions... Yes, the world is better off than 5 years ago despite the doom and gloom we get smothered in by the press and political hacks.

About Cheney being Pres... well, I wouldn't vote for him. Heck I never even voted for Bush. I'll probably vote a write in for Alan Keyes again.
If he were Pres, I wouldn't worry and would probably support him as much as I do any current president.

i thought that bush had won the elections by fixing the elections.....the same thing was done by Slobodan Milosevic look where he is right now, and look where his country is right now, and all of you democratic americans dont see that he is taking your freedom on wich you are so proud to the level that to the out side viewer its starting to look like pre war germany.
in my country(croatia) evryone wanted to go to america and be free, that was 10 years ago, now id rather stay here and enjoy the freedom cause i know that here is much more free than at your place, no gmo, no radiated food, and you people eat that poison willingly.
i dont wont to offend anyone, but if you dont stop that man youll be wanting to come to croatia , pretty soon as i see from here.
peace people.
B.
p.s.-sorry for the bad spelling

You don't need to be a anywhere close to a millionaire to reap the benefits of the tax cuts. I guess my tax returns must have just been magical.

Yes.. I am much better off than I was 5 years ago... as for the state of the world and U.S.?.... I know I feel safer... and I think in the long run we will be much better off.

and no I wouldn't vote for Cheney... unless he is the only one running against Hillary Clinton... hell.. I would vote Bill back in before I voted for that psycho witch!

A lot of people believe that lie. The Truth is Gore is the one that brought it to the courts. Democratic League of Women are the ones that created and perpetuated the "chad" debicle. The counties with "questionable" voting machines are Democrat Run. AND, just like the raping an crap that people STILL believe happened in New Orleans Superdome just plain didn't happen people believe the lies about the election because people keep telling that lie.

Now the loss of freedom and the "poision" in food is all true and is no joke. The Patriot Act is only one small example from the Bush admin. The Clinton admin has 8000 times the erosion of freedom from Waco to Elian to Los Alamos to Separation of Information and on and on. And, each previous admin, Especially LBJ and FDR took huge chunks of our freedoms. I shouldn't focus on just one, they all did it. You're right.

Life is still better here than anywhere else though.

Like armchair Rush Limbaughs, those under the Svengali-like spell of the ADMINISTRATION can only trot out the same lines when asked about Bush's progress:Tax cuts and Homeland security. Throw in some Clinton insults, and you are all pretty much cookie-cutter drones who will defend the ADMINISTRATION and their "moral value" to the end. Speaking of "moral value" , Dick Cheney and Karl Rove seem to be overflowing with it, right?

Actually I am not a big Bush supporter. I am conservative. I don't believe that all my hard work should be given away with taxes. Life is not a free giveaway. Before you say silver spoon, I grew up below the poverty line.My real political view is Libertarian.

Is the world a better place? Well I feel safer now, but only becuase my country did not invade Iraq and refused to and seemingly all of the terrorist interests are being focused on the innocent people in the countries who's Governments did decide invading Iraq was a clever move.

So thank you George Bush and the Administration you have inadvertantly made my life easier simpler and more peacefull, it's just a pity about the people involved in the Bali bombings the London Bombings other terrorist retaliations, the citizens of Iraq and well I'm still quite worried about the up and comming Commonwealth games in Melbourne.

As for tax cuts. I don't claim to be a political genius, but I have noticed tax cuts are generally the tool of a government who needs to boost its own P.R. It's the quick fix like the Auntie who is mean all the time but gives you lollies or money so you put up with her. And with tax cuts in a system where you can not be elected more than twice, you at least can make the opposition look bad when they have to clean up your over spending mess. Nobody likes to have their lollies taken off them, do they?

Don't worry about the oil prices though I have a feeling they are about to come down, the other night on the news in New Zealand it said that American and British oil companies are in the running for as much as a $182 billion dollar boost over the next year. They didn't say why the companies where going to get such a boost, and I won't try to connect the dots, but well we will just wait and see will we.

I support Bush like I supported Clinton when he was in office. I didn't vote for Bush, either for Governor or President either time.

I do see one new name that is a carbon copy of drone-like rhetoric I've read in other places though, in this thread...

Oh, does the fur fly when backed into a corner! This ADMINISTRATION and it's believers cannot handle any critiscism of any kind, and you can see their puppet leader Bush falter and fumble when someone slips in a real question. It's all in his eyes, mate; lifeless, black eyes. Like a doll's eyes...

^^^ Welcome to politics. Been happening ever since mankind became civilized.

Personally I am better off than I was 5 years ago.

As a country? Let's look at some facts which show why I think we are:

Fact: The US hasn't had a terrorist attack since 9/11 ...Canada hasn't had a terrorist attack since 9/11...Australia hasn't had a terrorist attack since 9/11.

I don't care who hates the US and I don't care who hates Bush. The man went after the terrorists after 9/11 and he is still at it.

And yeah, somehow I feel much safer having 150,000 American and Allied troops on the ground in Iraq with Sadaam on trial and a new democratic Iraqi government elected by the people gaining more control over their country every day. Yeah, I feel better having it that way than having little 12 year old girls routinely raped and murdered by Sadaam's sons.

I feel better somehow knowing that Afghan women now have rights. I feel better somehow that the Taliban is gone and that Terrorist Training Camps are not cranking out product as they were before 9/11. I feel better that the US economy is booming and that airline travel is at an all time high.

I commend President Bush on staying the course.

There are many sheep in the world...bahh, bahh, bahh
I am thankful our President has a backbone and doesn't stick his finger in the air to see which way the political winds are blowing. I am thankful that his administration has been scandal free. He is an honorable man and I personally do trust him...as a president..as a friend. I would leave my money and my daughter with him over night in a tent in the woods with no worry that I would return the next day and find them both quite safe.

I would imagine (actually I know for a fact) that most of the people criticizing Bush now would have (had they been alive) been criticizing Reagan for his stance against the Soviets and his Tear Down that Wall speech....but who is criticizing him for that now? Do any of you actually wish the Berlin wall and the Soviet Union were still intact?

Nah Joc, I wanted the wall torn down too.

I just can't trust a man or his administartion when the knee jerk reaction is guns. There were other options, options which allow the capture of terrorists without creating a whole new bunch of extremists.

But Ronald Reagan, didn't he develop altzhiemers during the last part of his term in office?

It wasn't exactly a knee jerk reaction Kismit; albeit that is what the American Majority wanted at the time....as I recall he was criticized then for not doing anything fast enough. Days went by...no immediate response...weeks went by..no response...then WHAM the hammer went down hard and fast and POOF no more Taliban.

If you capture a terrorist then what? Trial? In American courts? Blimey...they'd be free in 10 years. In my humble opinion it is much better to shoot them in the back of the head and throw them in a hole. I just don't accept the premise that killing terrorists creates more terrorists. Rather the more you kill, the less of them there are. These are human beings whos hearts and minds have to be changed. Right now we are in a battle for exactly that...the hearts and minds of the Islamic community. It isn't us who are blowing up Mosques, it is the terrorists. If we stay our ground in Iraq and help this government get on it's feet so it can defend itself against terrorism, then Iraq will become a huge plus for the world. If we leave and Iraq deteriorates into what it was before....the entire Islamic community will see us as two faced, cut and run when the going gets tough, lying hypocrites and the terrorist community will view us the same and all HELL will break loose in every part of the globe.

Yes, unfortunately Reagan began to deteriorate late in his second term. Sad. But I'm glad you are glad about the wall...and I submit to you my dear Kismit that in 10 years the entire world will be glad Iraq is free and stable and that the nightmare of terrorism is remarkably lessened.

wuv

Joc we don't allways agree, but you rock.

It seems to me that a VAST majority of the people who have responded on this thread, rathrethey like Bush or not, have stated that they are indeed better off than they were when he took office. Maybe we should look into getting him four more years? Actually, that might not be as bad an idea as some might think. We know what Bush is going to do. We have no idea what his replacement will be like.

I started crafting my reply but I guess my keyboard zitzed-out because all it produced was a bunch of these **** ****

So I'm out...

No way. I'd quit my job and camp out in front of the white house. I'd join whatever revolution. I'm extremely satisfied with term limits. The last thing I want is even a Perception that we've gotten a king, dictator, or any of the like.

I didn't vote for him. The day he leaves office, for me, will be a good day. He's a Big Money Spender. He pretty much in my opinion stabbed his constituents in the back letting Ted "the swimmer" Kennedy write the education.

Yes, he is 10,000,000 times better than John "I served in Vietnam" Kerry or Albert "I invented the Internet" Gore, but I can't wait for a new Pres. That's not to say Bush is doing a bad enough job to get him out now either, cause he's not. But ANOTHER 4 more years to me would feel like a takeover, bigtime.

Well, it appears as though Dick Cheney will see competition within the Republican Party from Sen. John McCain in 2008. Personally, I don't see the Democratic Party trotting out 2 A-List candidates from their line-up that smack me in face as Winners right now.

There is doubt in my mind that this country (USA) and this planet are in a much worse situation now than they were 5 years ago. Yes, my net income has risen but that's essentially meaningless compared to What Actually Matters.

If Cheney becomes the US President in 2008, I think we know which direction the White House Flag will fly... continuing further into that downward spiral to the Right.

So what 'Actually Matters' to you?

Well, an increase in income sure as heck matters to me and my kids.

Apparently you just glom on to soundbites from the left. Cheney is not running for president.
He has said he will not run...and unlike Hillary Clinton...Cheney is a man who's word actually means something. He isn't even in the likely candidate list for goodness sake.

is Larry David posting these replies?

What Actually Matters:

1. Poverty. The decrease in socio-economic disparity. Today, the $$$difference between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' is greater than ever before.

2. Education. Literacy levels in the US are atrocious. Public school administrations are filled with politicians instead of educators. Universities have become corporations.

3. Globalization. The US has ostracized itself from the global community through a not-so-subtle countertext of "us vs. them" while simultaneously granting de-facto license to the burgeoning oligarchy (Halliburton, GE, Unocal, et al).

***
Yes, I know that Mr. Cheney has denied an interest in becoming the next US President but I don't believe a word he says in public. There is no doubt in my mind that if McCain appears to be the most likely electable Republican, Cheney will "change his mind."

Actually, I grew up in poverty and now make a 6 figure income. The oppurtunities are out there,but you have to bust your butt to make it. Nothing is going to be given to you, and it shouldn't be. We live in a capitalistic society. It works.

"The Western Democracies vs. The Terrorists"

Hard for you to admit that we are actually at war?