means by which the president and his administration took us to war in Iraq – the falsehoods, the ineptitude, the brazen flaunting of world opinion, the snubbing of allies, the utter disregard for bipartisanship, and an outrageous arrogance in general – is a permanent black mark on his record. Then there were the suspensions of civil liberties, the "extreme rendition" of suspected Al-Qaida members, and the torture of prisoners that followed the invasion. Terrorist threat or no terrorist threat, this wasn't how a United States government was supposed to behave.
Bush didn't seem to care what other people thought. During the run up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, as the world reverberated with the sounds of anti-war demonstrations, I remember thinking: "Can a government call itself 'democratic' if it is completely insensitive to the voices of the people?" Not a single protest or voice of dissent mattered – the Bush administration turned a deaf ear to the public and plowed ahead with its agenda. Well, an answer to my question began to take shape in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, as an inadequate government response angered the nation. Bush's poll numbers dived and never recovered. His fall translated into major gains for the Democratic Party in the 2006 mid-term elections, and, ultimately, its triumph in the 2008 general election, in which Bush and his party were soundly repudiated. Apparently, in a republic the voices of the people still matter.
Then there is the issue of the economy. Though much has been made of Bush's strong leadership following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, I believe history will judge his poor handling of the economy as more consequential in the long run. As the economic
aftershocks of 9/15 continue to spread across the nation, it is clear that Bush and Co. have no one to blame but themselves and their laissez-faire/free market ideology for the devastation wrecking everything from Wall Street to Main Street.
In an article titled "The $10 Trillion Hangover" in the current issue of Harper's Magazine, economists Linda Bilmes and Joseph Stiglitz write: "In the eight years since George W. Bush took office, nearly every component of the U.S. economy has deteriorated." Here's their list of economic woe:
- The nation's budgets, trade deficits, and debts have reached record levels;
- Unemployment is way up, household savings are down;
- Four million manufacturing jobs have evaporated;
- The number of Americans without health insurance has risen 19% since 2000;
- Consumer debt has doubled;
- One-fifth of Americans are likely to owe more in mortgage debt than their house is worth;
- Interest on the debt is now the fourth-largest category in the federal budget;
- The cost of family health care premium has jumped 87% since 2000;
- The number of families in poverty rose from 6.4 million to 7.6 million;
- Real median household income dropped 1% since 2000;
- Corporate profits surged 68%;
- The national debt was $5.7 trillion in 2001 – now it is $10.6 trillion – and that's before the impact of the
Copyright ©2008 Courtney White, A West That Works, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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