Bush has destroyed the economy by losing jobs and pushing us far further into debt;
Economy grew at 4.6% in 2003 and I believe will meet that this year. If it was destroyed you would see something like the great depression with large negative growth rates and unemployment into the 30% range.
5.4% unemployment and positive GDP growth is a real long shot definition of "destroyed".
he has raped the Constitution with the so-called "Patriot" Act and by funding religious organizations with public money;
How many people have been prosecuted under the patriot act? How many abuses in 3 years? From what I can tell there has been 1 unlawful prosescution in 3 years. That guy got off on his appeal. Yeah I know many of you think the patriot act locks you up and throws away the key. But it doesnt.
face it, there is nothing special he did on 9/11 or after it; he just got up there and hugged some firemen and families; now he is using it as a rallying cry, but it should be the shame of his administration
If John Kerry was there he would have been getting a manicure. Dont believe me? Ask Johnny what he was doing in Florida before the first debate after a hurricane just ravaged the land. Bush was out helping people, Kerry was getting sleep, a fake tan, and his nails done. Brilliant humanitarian there.
We were on track to eliminate our debts. Now we have more than ever. In addition, we've lost jobs over the last four years. How do you address that?
Then the internet boom popped and all those revenues they were expecting for the surplus disappeared. you see during the internet boom the revenues from taxes skyrocketed as a record % of the people were employed. But what did the govt and senators like Kerry do? They spent right along with the unrealistic increase in revenues instead of actually paying down the debt. If the govt would have held the spending to 1997 levels instead of ballooning with the economic boom. Then we wouldnt be in the position we are today when it finally popped.
Even John Kerry cant tell us he expected the boom to last forever. Where was his foresight in all of this? Why didnt he addresss it until 4 years after the fact?
To be fair he said he was going to increase taxes only on people earning over $200,000.
Which will yield about 60 billion more in the govt coffers. How does that pay for his increases in govt? It doesnt, and if he gets elected we can only hope the repubs hold the house and senate. Because generating 60 billion more in tax revenues by taxing the top 1% will not offset the hudreds of billions he is proposing.
My take on the domestic policy of Bush is he has been too pre-occupied with the war on terror. He has done some good things like pass the child tax credit and the school act. But in the last debate he had a good overview of what he will do in the next 4 years.
#1. SS overhaul. This needs to be done or this country will be run into the dirt. FDR had a decent idea but this is not the 1930s where people lived to 60. We are living to 80+ with ease and the younger generations can not afford to pay the baby boomers. Kerry wants to keep it the way it is even if it is broken.
#2. Health savings plans. We already have them to an extent but I believe this is a good idea. Kerry wants to expand the govts reach into the private healthcare industry. A scary expensive proposition when you think about the baby boomers coming of age over the next 20-30 years. How do we pay for such a thing?
#3. Taxes and spending. Bush hasnt exactly been a model for fiscal responsibility. This comes with the time of war. The govt spent ~2.8 trillion on WWII. In todays dollars it would have cost us 34,610,800,000,000. Yes that is 34.6 trillion to fight WWII or 3x the gdp. Wars cost not only money but also the economy. Kerrys flimsy excuse to tax the top 1% to pay for everything is wishful thinking. The simple fact is a tax burden will be placed on everybody. Always has, always will.