QFT

Well, under Newt Gingrich the congress was pretty fiscallly responsible. Remember the years when the national debt was balanced and there was tax surplus. But the party got rid of him for some reason.

I would personally put his allowing the slow decay of our intelligence forces and passing on a free shot at Bin Laden twice a lot higher than "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".

Clinton was a president who didn't get in the way. The economy was booming, things were good, and he just let it roll. Was he a good president? Maybe. He wasn't a terrible one, that's for sure.

As for Bush, it's far too early to tell how his presidency is going to turn out and anyone who says differently is a moron. Look at Nixon... Hugely controversial, Watergate scandal, massively unpopular war... Now look at him. People are acknowledging his opening of China as one of the most important pieces of foreign policy in the past 100 years.

Too soon. With that said, I fucking despise Bush's domestic policies. Every last bit of 'em.

Yep. Newt got a bad rap.  His own party tarred and feathered him and ran him out on the rail.  Part of that was his fault though.  The budget conflict was one thing, but Newt had a habit of being a bit too frank, and that was his undoing.  Funny, a polititian blacklisted for being honest.  All things said and done, he was a great Speaker of the House and he did more to cut back big government than any Republican in a long time.  Of course, it is always funny to see people credit Clinton for this when Clinton actually fought many of those cuts.

I give that post a 9.8.

I like Newt. People unfairly targeted him because of his brutal honesty and lack of tact at times. He's actually one of the mainstream politicians whose economic politicies most closely resemble my own.

Shame on Bush for doing nothing for eight whole months.

C'mon, Rubang, you have to do better than that. Clinton did go after some terrorists but he also softballed a few others during his eight years as President. Comparing eight months to eight years is ridiculous.

Even the good ones?

Bush Tax Cuts, Health Savings Acounts, Private Social Security Accounts (didnt pass the democrats), Tax Cuts on savings and retirement savings, stronger stance against terrorism that has reduced terrorist attacks on american soil to 1 in 8 years as opposed to 1 every 18 months under Clinton's administration, college saving accounts 529, etc.

I know there are many bad things he let by like McCain-Fiengold, no child left behind, the new Medicare crap, etc. but he did do some things positive.

Tax cuts are only good if the government stops spending so much money. SS accounts didn't pass so it's not worth talking about. Terrorism is mainly a foreign policy and I hate the Patriot Act right down to my very core. Health Savings accounts are akin handing an amputee a band-aid.

Rocketpig: You make good counter points about some of his ideas, but they do center around abuse out of his power. Like the Tax cuts would work if congress stopped spending ungodly amounts of money, but he was veto proof.

I do disagree whole-heartedly on the HSA point. HSA help make medical costs very affordable and protects you from the risk of uncontrollable medical expenses.

My main problems with Bush are:

- He doesn't act like a traditional Republican

and

- He doesn't act like a traditional Republican

I don't know what I dislike more about him... His extreme religious views, his violation of citizens' rights, or the fact that he spends money like FDR.

Giving Bush credit for a stronger stance on terrorism is a joke. 9/11 happened. He had to act or he'd have been killed by the angry masses. Fighting back was the least he could do. At that point, it was revenge, and ANYBODY in charge, ever, would have done the same, if not more. Why do we give him credit for reacting? Are we supposed to believe that any other president would have gone back to sleep on 9/11 and done nothing about it?

The tax cuts were a joke. The majority of the cuts were for the richest of the rich. Yeah, some small businesses got a little slack, but the richest people in America got millions handed to them for nothing, and the poor got enough for a couple free beers and burritos. And all the money the government lost on tax cuts... mixed with starting multiple wars... mixed with blowing our entire surplus (including the large portion earmarked for social security)... basically handed our economy to China.

Clinton's terms were the only time in American history during which the national debt didn't increase exponentially. It's happened once ever. I'll understand if you want to give 100% of the credit to Newt or the Republican Congress and say Clinton had nothing to do with it... but to say that Bush didn't single-handedly blow every red cent of it with his tax cuts and mad spending policies is insane.


@rocketpig, what I mean about Bush being soft on terrorism until 9/11 is that... he got elected... and did nothing for 8 months. He was on vacation the whole time. He had a tax cut, and he cut funding for Planned Parenthoods on foreign soil, and went hunting until 9/11 happened. There was a gigantic pool of information that the CIA and the Clinton administration had built on Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden during all the attacks of the 90's. We had a terrorist problem. Bush sat on his hands and waited for the big one to get all riled up and do something.

It's like getting a job at a haunted house and forgetting to bring your ghostbusting kit until the king ghost comes and kills your family!

Clinton had asked for permission to go after Bin Laden, and the CIA said no. Tenet said no, and he's kicking himself in the teeth every day because of it. And all the Republicans in his cabinet and the Congress were always out for his blood and told him he couldn't afford to start a land war in the Middle East. Basically, nobody but Clinton wanted to do shit until the big one happened.

And if 9/11 hadn't happened, Bush wouldn't have been re-elected. Outside of his wars, Bush was a cartoon character of a president. His legacy is revenge.