The Final Bush Report Card

I think the conventional wisdom assumes that you either have to love Bush or hate Bush. Well, he was okay.

Foriegn policy: B. He responded well to 9/11, responding to the safe haven of terrorism in Afghanistan. He didn't go all wobbly, like Gore might have done. I don't fault Bush for not finding WMDs in Iraq, because Saddam was good at playing a shell game. However, his ever changing justifications lead to what was actually probably the real reason for Iraq: a Wilsonian idea to turn Iraq into a democracy and create an area of stability. Whether the gamble works, may take years to decide.

Military: B. We was quite supportive of the military and of the sacrifice of the soliders. He made discreet efforts to visit wounded troops without trying to use it for political gain. However, he had shortcomings when facing political pressure. He called for the backdown in Fallujah in 2004 and against Muqtada Al-Sadr, giving the enemy motivation. When troops were unfairly prosecuted for fake crimes (Fallujah), he did little to support them, even behind the scenes.

Immigration & the Border: D-. In short, our immigration policy is awful. While there is a demand for low-skilled workers, the legal immigration process is very limited. However, the government turns a blind eye to illegal immigration, and then seeks to give amnesty. However, the illegal immigration also brings in drugs, crime, and people who don't pay taxes despite using resources. The allowance of illegal immigration allows Mexico to keep the same bigoted social and economic system that prevents actual change in Mexico. I can't get mad at many of the immigrants themselves as they are doing what is in their own self interest. You don't cross the Arizona desert for the fun of it.

Tax Policy: A-. His tax cuts were a great response in the face of the 2001-2003 recession. However, despite a majority of Republicans in the house and the Senate, we couldn't even make them permanent. Now with Democrats in control, they don't have to raise taxes, they just have to let the current ones expire.

Spending: D. For years Bush never met a spending policy he didn't like. He believed he could buy the support of Democrats on the war by signing every spending bill that came across his desk. But he under estimated how vicious they were. He thought the Democrats in Washington were like the Southern Democrats in Texas. Many people could have told him otherwise.

Judges: B+. Two good justices, but points off for the bitter fight over Harriet Meirs.

Conservatism: C-. Heavily increased government spending to pork and social spending, is not very conservative. Furthermore, George Bush said he "suspended his free market principles" to support the bailout of auto companies with a losing business strategy. The worst thing is that Bush was called a conservative and wasn't, so it forms people's perceptions. If you are give shoe leather and told it was chocolate, you are going to think chocolate sucks.

Overall: C+. Not much has changed since Yale. A fair President. He prevented any additional attacks and didn't otherwise send the country into misery.