Why real Republicans should not like Bush (need help with list)

[KelleyKramer]

I'm working on a list of why 'real' Republicans should not like George Bush. Actually it should be phrased as the 'Bushies' .. ie Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, etc etc who are really running the show.

And while they pretend to be Republicans they are nothing of the sort, they are really just neocon fanatics.

I have a starter list but there have to be more and any help would be appreciated.

Best!
Kelley

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Why George Bush is against real Republicans --

-Fiscally Irresponsible-
Took a budget surplus and in three years turned it into the largest deficit in the history of the United States.

-Big Government-
Increased budget spending at a faster pace than any president in decades, Bush has increased annual government spending almost 300% faster than Bill Clinton did.

-Nation Building-
Republicans have traditionally opposed nation building, during election 2000 George Bush specifically pledged to never participate in nation building. After taking office, nation building has been the cornerstone of the Bush administration.

-Free Trade-
Bush imposed trade tariffs for steel and timber, violating a core Republican platform. Bush later flip-flopped on this issue (or more accurately.. Flip- flip- re-flip flopped)

-Government Bureaucracy-
Bush created the biggest government bureaucracy in the history of the United States (he was against it, for it, against it, then created it)

-Entitlement Programs are Bad-
Another Republican core issue. The Bush administration created a huge program with their Medicare entitlement bill. Bush also lied to his own Republican party and said it would cost $400 billion, when the real numbers are a $550 billion entitlement program.

-Honesty-
See above. If you need more, start with 'He has WMD's, I have proof and I know exactly where they are'.

-Illegal Immigrant Policy-
Bush has proposed to give illegal immigrants rights in the US

-We give too much money to foreigners-
Bush gave a huge $10 billion US government contract to a foreign company. What was this contract for? Bush gave a record-setting Homeland Security contract for protecting our borders to a foreign company.

-Support our Troops and Veterans-
Bush has not provided needed equipment to our troops on the battlefield, such as armor for their humvees, body armor, and even a shortage of BULLETS! Ad to that regular shortages of food and water to our troops, many times a result of no-bid contracts from Cheney's Halliburton.
Bush has also during his term.. cut combat pay to troops, extended tours beyond the troops contract, charged injured troops for their food while recovering from combat amputations in the hospital, cut healthcare for veterans.

-Restore Honor and Integrity-
George Bush changed the law to allow convicted criminals to receive government contracts.

-Create Jobs-
George Bush will be the first president in over 70 years, since Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression to finish a term with ZERO net job creation.

[ClassWarrior]

1. kick to build the list

:kick:

[ewagner]

2. Your list is well done

and it raises the theme I have been spouting to my republican friends. I ask them if they understand what the Bush* Administration is really advocating. Some questions I ask:

Are you really in favor of the concept of an American Empire ?

Are you really in favor of unchecked, unregulated captialism?

Do you remember your history lessons about the Corporate excesses of the turn of the 20th Century?

Do you remember what happened to financial markets without regulation?

Do you remember WHY labor unions and Federal Labor laws came to pass in the first place?

Do the names 3-Mile Island and Love Canal mean anything to you?

Usually it starts a discussion which ultimately points out the dismal failings of the Bush* administration.

[KelleyKramer]

12. Good you are talking

Its important to keep a dialog.

Just ask basic questions and take it from there. You might be surprised.

[qwlauren35]

3. Great list...

I would add, for all of the veterans, some poignant comments about his service record.

Also, I believe he has reneged on several major statements made during his previous campaign. (But I'm not sure I could identify them, or identify whether they are things that Republicans care about.)

Other than waging war, I believe he's been relatively ineffective in getting his key legislation passed through Congress. He wasn't able to make the Defense of Marriage Act pass. I think there have been others.

And while most Republicans aren't big on "civil liberties", some examples of government invasion into private lives of average white Americans would probably alarm them.

I think his vacation record speaks for itself.

I would mention that he's a moron who probably can't tell Austria from Australia, but again, I don't think that matters to a lot of Republicans...

[KelleyKramer]

4. Good suggestions

Maybe the vacation record Bush set could be under 'hard work' is a Repub value. And apparently the Bushies hate veterans, and it’s a bi-partisan hatred of veterans from the Bushies... they have tried to destroy Kerry, Cleland, McCain and any other veterans of US wars they come across.

[barb162]

5. environment, jobs overseas

Environmental (air, water, land, forests...) he is decimating the EPA rules set up over the last 20-30 years. He's letting lumber company/ campaign contributors cut into the national forests, etc, etc, etc.

He's not doing a damn thing to halt the jobs going overseas although he implements plenty of laws that are pro-corporation. He is NOT pro-American worker. He's also not doing a damn thing to help workers or idled workers through better unemployment benefits.

[Commendatori]

6. Steel tariffs, campaign finance, applauding Affirmative Action,

saying he'll sign the AWB extension if it reaches his desk, failure to veto any spending at all, the farm bill, and don't forget the "letting Ted Kennedy write the education bill" crap (I don't know if that's actually true, but the Repugs drone on about it constantly).

It's the immigration issue that will cost Chimpster a second term. I know a ton of Repugs here in the white collar section of Washington who are staying home in November because of it.

One slight flaw in your list: the last point is our talking point, not theirs. I've never met a Republican who thinks creating jobs is a president's responsibility, and they're sure as hell to hide behind that now.

Otherwise, your list kicks ass and makes my day, I can't wait to watch Kerry's inauguration.

[KelleyKramer]

8. AWB extension, whats that?

Not familiar with that, can you give some details (or at least enough so I can google it)

And you make some good suggestions.. Will check on the affirmative action, forgot about that, and it is just the thing that pisses real Republicans off to no end.

And I agree about the immigrants, a LOT of conservatives I know are real pissed about that one, some even seem to be in shock over it.. They consider it a full betrayal.

As for the jobs, I probably leave it in there just as a reminder, when I tell conservatives about that in person every one didn’t know it was that bad of a record.

Thanks for the great input!

[Commendatori]

10. Assault Weapons Ban

Part of the condition of getting it into the Clinton crime bill was making it temporary. Republicans argue that a lot of the weapons listed on it aren't the machine guns that Dems make them out to be, blah, blah...

I don't want to prejuduce your thinking (I may be Democrat, but I'm also pro-gun), so just look it up yourself or start a thread on it. The people here will fill you in from both sides of the issue.

[CBHagman]

7. Threw out Reagan's "trust but verify."

You are going to love this one. The Bush administration announced a policy that would eliminate verification regarding nuclear programs. They said something about it costing too much money or the like. I don't have a link to the articles but it was front-page news in the Saturday Washington Post about two weeks back.

Oh, and Bush also snubbed Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), who is generally pretty loyal to Bush policies. Apparently Lugar had gotten on Bush's bad side over something. There was a reference to this incident when Lugar recently spoke at the National Press Club.

And the Bush administration is the one that ignored the North Korea issue for months, snubbed the president of South Korea, and let A.Q. Khan get away with his nuclear supermarket! Scary stuff.

[Commendatori]

11. Lugar was one of the inspection gurus, the CTR program was

often referred to as the "Nunn-Lugar" bill. If Bush was for eliminating this program, Lugar had to be livid! It was a good program, too.

God, we have to get that jerk out of office.

[RobertDevereaux]

9. A well-deserved kick...

[Swamp Rat]

13. Kickitykick

Thanks for the link to your most excellent post KelleyKramer!

:kick:

[lostnfound]

14. Federal encroachment on states' rights

Via No-Child-Left-Behind and the Patriot Act
http://www.detnews.com/2004/politics/0401/03/politics-25195.htm

and this from the Tom Paine website:
In December 2002, the Bush administration responded to the demands of large energy companies and finalized changes to the Clean Air Act's New Source Review program that will impede or even preclude the ability of states and municipalities to implement air pollution programs that are stronger than federal requirements. Now, the Bush administration is quietly rewriting federal rules to limit states' control over oil drilling off their coasts, directly contradicting the expressed will of local communities in California, Florida and other coastal states. Representative Lois Capps of California and 90 other members of Congress have called the proposed revisions a "pernicious assault on states' rights."

and this, http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/11/business/11lend.html?ex=1386478800&en=1ecf2cdbe33d62c8&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND, removing states' rights for banking laws.
The Comptroller of the Currency ruled in August in an individual case that national banks did not have to comply with state predatory lending laws. It then proposed to make formal its decision to grant all national banks exemptions from state lending laws.

State officials and consumer groups have opposed the move to override state laws aimed at protecting consumers, including those to curb "predatory" lending practices.

These lending abuses include exorbitant fees and interest rates and payments for undisclosed insurance products.

But the comptroller has the power to override state banking laws. "Federal pre-emption is not unprecedented," a spokesman, Bob Garsson, said.