Against Bush or For Change?

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Against Bush or For Change?
by James Hall, Senior Associate Editor

October 21, 2004

"Leaning Left"

James Hall One of the inaccuracies being peddled by conservative pundits this election season is that liberals despise George W. Bush and have no good reason for wanting him gone. Like many other conservative beliefs of the season, that's just flat wrong.

Though I can see why conservatives might believe this. Isn't the Bush administration one of the most liberal in history? Didn't it whole-heartedly adopt the Big Government agenda of liberalism, accepting a Democratic plan for a new cabinet-level department, the Homeland Security Agency? Didn't it create a federally-mandated education agenda, No Child Left Behind, that forces states to cater to federal standards for federal funds? Didn't George W. Bush create the biggest federal entitlement program since Medicare with a new Medicare prescription drug program?

Hasn't the size of the federal government, which underwent a small decline during Bill Clinton's administration, expanded at a rate far greater than inflation? And under the Patriot Act, aren't federal law enforcment agencies far more intrusive than they were in the days of Waco and Janet Reno?

So, liberals, what more do you want? ask conservatives. Why get rid of the man who made this expansion of the federal government into our lives possible? It must be personal, not ideological, they reason.

But it's not, you see. George W. Bush's policies are simply bad for America, putting us at risk around the world, bankrupting our economy and and creating inequalities in our society at home. That's why liberals don't want him to serve another term in the White House.

Bush is wrong for America in so many ways. His doctrine of pre-emptive strike violates all the traditions of American foreign policy and has put our American soldiers in a Middle Eastern quagmire, fighting the remnants of Saddam Hussein's loyalists while Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda are free to operate in eastern Pakistan against us.

George W. Bush and the Congressional Republicans have set up the "For Sale" sign in Washington to corporate interests. Bush's free-trade policies have led to the loss of American jobs overseas. He's permitted so-called "American" corporations to set up off-shore addresses to avoid taxes. To help the prescription drug companies, he's blocked Medicare from negotiating better prescription drug prices and prohibited Americans from going to Canada to get them.

He's opened up America's national parks and forests to mining, lumber, and oil interests on the cheap. He's given a huge tax break to wealthy Americans, increasing our budget deficit. He's stood by while medical insurance prices rise and more Americans are uninsured.

George W. Bush's policies make the wealthy wealthier and the multi-nationals happy, but meanwhile America remains involved in a pointless conflict and our national reputation and national economic power are in decline. American soldiers and their families are sacrificing, middle class Americans are settling for jobs that pay less, while the wealthy in this country reap the benefits of Mr. Bush's one-sided policies.

It's these issues, despite Bush's Big Government approach, make him unacceptable to liberals. This is not personal: it's just time for a change. Before it's too late. ***

Photo of the author courtesy of staff files