Ok Mouse-
First off, IÂ’d like to say to you, and Mike and others who are participating in thisÂ… I think itÂ’s
very good that you care enough to pay attention to the government and voice your concerns! Even though we donÂ’t see eye to eye on certain politicians, political circumstances or party linesÂ…
we all care about and love America. In this…united we stand. TOO many people in our country are making it “Sheik” or in vogue to disrespect the President…and it’s idiotic. But if you do your research, even if you arrive at different conclusions than I do…my hats off to you!
now
Lets take your issues here Mouse.
You said:
“Dubya has taken more vacation time than any President in my memory.”
First off. His name isnÂ’t
“Dubya”. Not in
any sense. At least show some respect for our President, even if you disagree with him. I disagreed with a great deal that President Clinton had to do/say…etc., but he’s still “
President Clinton”. When you start dehumanizing someone’s name (and denying them their proper title “president”) it’s all to easy to dislike them without good reason. It’s part of the Bush-Bashing vogue. The highest office in the country deserves more respect than this.
Secondly: This, too, is a misrepresentation that the DNC spouts outÂ… itÂ’s misleading propaganda thatÂ’s all too easy to swallow. Like all deceptionsÂ…itÂ’s based on a half truth.
TRUE:
President Bush has spent over 40% of his time out of the Whitehouse and away from the politically charged D.C. Beltway. In fact a great deal of his time has been spent at his ranch in Texas….where his cabinet and administration joins him either in person or electronically and conducts business. IF I had a job that I could do from home (MAN…that’d be nice) and I did so 50% of the time…would you say that I spend half of my time ‘on vacation’? You would if I were President Bush and you were the DNC spin-doctors. They are lumping in his working away from the office time with his vacation time and making it one sum total…very misleading.
Next, you said: “more vacation time than any President in my memory.”
How many PresidentÂ’s vacation hours do you remember?
What a strange bit of trivia to commit to memory. What percentage of time was President Carter away from D.C.? What about President Reagan? President G.H.W. Bush? President Clinton? President Hoover? Just wondering what your points of reference and basis of comparison are. Or are you just regurgitating DNC propaganda whole? Hope not. IÂ’d
rather think that you are a free-thinking American.
NEXT: You said: “He has a terrible work ethic.”
Terrible is an emotionally charged word and is totally subjective to youÂ… in other words, itÂ’s
your biased opinion. (before anyone thinks that I’m demonizing the word “bias” or “biased”…I’m not. It’s the most human thing we can be, and it affects
everyone. The more we are made aware of it however, the more we can overcome it in the interest of reason and fact. If you aren‘t biased on a subject it indicates that you don‘t care about that topic.
You care, I careÂ…we are biased.) So fact is YOUR
Opinion is that he has a terrible work ethic.
Why?
IF it is based on the aforementioned spin concerning his ‘time away’ from the Whitehouse…
then the conclusion doesnÂ’t have a single leg to stand on.
NEXT: You said “He's crafty”
Nice connotation to that word,
“crafty”. It implies the use of intelligence and subtlety in deceiving others. Here’s the thing though,
EVERY SINGLE President MUST be crafty…or he’d NEVER get the job in the first place. If every President were to be 100% plain clear and honest/up-front about their plans and how they’d go about what they intend…they’d not make it. It’s not fair, not to us, but to them. Fact is that not every thing that needs to be done will be popular. Getting elected is about being liked, doing the job isn’t. It’s about taking action, often actions that many will disagree with. I think it was President Truman who said that a leader is one who “Takes risks that others won’t”. I believe it. But the eggs that get cracked along the way to the omelet will upset many a chicken. We require our politicians to act and say things one way to get the office, but if they take their office and it’s obligations seriously (as I believe every President of the last 100 years has) they must then act along some very different lines. Taking care of business and doing what must be done will seldom win a popularity contest. Every President has relied on speech writers and talking points in order to watch their every word and to couch their actions in words that put the best possible light on them…EVERY President. NOBODY else in the world is under that level of intense scrutiny. Nobody. So has President Bush been crafty? YES. As well he should be, must be and will continue to be.
NEXT: You said: “I don't think he's at all honest - you can't get a straight answer out of him. ”
So you say. Still just your opinion. Can you give an example or two?
Ok…back to ‘crafty’ huh? I say you get many straight answers out of him, it’s one of the reasons he upsets people. He’s not nearly as ‘crafty’ as President Reagan was who took DRASTIC measures to do the right thing…yet won peoples hearts and minds in the process….thus “The Great Communicator” title. He’s not as “crafty” as President Bill Clinton who could equivocate about the subtle differences about what the word “is” is.
NEXT: You said: “Um, what economic turn around is that?”
UmÂ… one:
Economic growth since last summer has been the fastest in nearly 20 years. The American economy grew at a strong annual pace of 3.9 percent during the first quarter of 2004 - above the historical average, and continuing the strong growth seen over the previous two quarters.
America's standard of living is on the rise. Real after-tax incomes are up by 11% since December 2000 - substantially better than the gains following the last recession. Since the President's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, personal consumption levels have risen significantly.
Retail sales other than motor vehicles in the first quarter of 2004 increased 11.8 percent, more than double the average annual rate of growth over the last decade.
Consumer confidence is at its highest level in 2 years. The Conference Board's index of consumer confidence increased over 18 index points in the past 12 months, from 83.5 last June to 101.9 this June.
New housing construction in May remains at levels near those of December 2003, when they were at their highest in almost 20 years.
The national homeownership rate, in the first quarter of 2004, remained at the record high of 68.6 percent set in the previous quarter.
Minority homeownership set a new quarterly record of 50.8 percent in the first quarter, up 0.2 percentage point from the fourth quarter and up 1.5 percentage points from the first quarter of 2003.
Inflation remains low by historical standards, with the core CPI (Consumer Price Index) and the core finished-goods PPI (Producer Price Index) both rising only 1.7 percent over the last 12 months.
Mortgage rates remain near historic lows, making home buying easier and more affordable.
Productivity grew from 2000 to 2003 at the fastest 3-year rate in more than 50 years. This has bolstered profits and will lead to significantly higher real wages for workers.
State tax revenue grew by 8.1 percent over the four quarters ending in March 2004, with nearly all of it attributable to the improving economy rather than to increased taxes - fully 7.1 percent of the revenue gains reflected the economic recovery. This is the best four-quarter growth rate in nearly 4 years.
Manufacturers have been reporting increased activity and new orders more than at any time in the last 20 years.
From its low in mid 2002, the stock market is up about 40% and the NASDAQ is up almost 70%.
The economy has posted steady job gains for each of the last ten months – creating more than 1.5 million jobs since August. According to statistics released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 112,000 new jobs were created in June.
Nearly 1.3 million jobs have been added since the beginning of the year.
The national unemployment rate stayed constant at 5.6% in June - down 0.7 percentage point from a peak of 6.3% a year ago. At 5.6%, the unemployment rate is below the average of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
Employment over the last year was up in 44 of the 50 states and the unemployment rate was down in all regions and in 46 of the 50 states.
National manufacturing employment is up by 64,000 jobs since its low in January. The ISM Manufacturing survey's employment index reached a 30-year high in May and remained strong in June, indicating further gains in manufacturing employment.
The household survey shows a similar increase in jobs, up 1.7 million since August.
Unemployment rates have fallen across all levels of education, races, and ages over the past year.
o For people without a college degree, the unemployment rate is down by 0.7 percentage point.
o For both African-Americans and Latinos, the unemployment rate is down by 1.5 percentage points.
o For teenagers, the unemployment rate is down by 2.2 percentage points.
THAT recoveryÂ…which is still at full steam ahead. Of course you seldom hear this from the general mediaÂ…
wonder why.
(
not really)
NEXT: You said “He completely bungled Iraq, and still is - we need more troops there, our troops are overextended and being forced to remain longer than they were deployed for, and he's cut their pay and benefits while they have been in Iraq.”
Bungled? Nice word there. Implied incompetency. Truth is that the military was cut cut cut in the last administration and when President Bush put forward to increase their funds…Democrats like Kerry and Edwards did all they could to shoot it down. There’s been problems along the way in the war effort. I don’t argue with you on that. But since when was going to war easy? Every war has had problems…but most of them didn’t have 24/7 news coverage with motion cameras in the war zones. This one does. Every problem or proclaimed problem used to cast blame toward our President has occurred with every major war effort we’ve ever had. After WWII we were viewed as “occupier” and an Imperialist country…but when we eventually left we left them in a much better state of affairs than when we arrived.
NEXT: You said: “He has destroyed the dignity and honor of the Oval Office - it has become a dirty CEO's office where industry and wealthy cronies get to have their say, and the government agencies that are suppossed to be protecting Americans have been put under the lead of people who want to please industried instead.”
AhhÂ….
pure unadulterated DNC
propaganda Spin!!!
Show me facts.
This is your opinionÂ…based on what?
Hope you are all wellÂ…take care.
Your Brother
John
My thought on this whole discussion is that while the government creates these violent divisions within the country (eg, have you ever examined the congressional districts maps that run like hot wax - does anyone know what district you are in? Espescially if you move to a new state!). I do not mean conspiricy stuff (black helos), just the result of the a$$ho;es that want to hold onto power once they get it - whatever party. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely"...
