The Presidency of George W. Bush

Yesterday's US mid-term election results saw the Democratic Party make gains at the expense of the Republicans. President Bush's popularity has substantially declined over the course of his Presidency. His second term has two years to run. It seems like a good moment to assess President Bush's record so far.

Introduction

What have been the Bush administration successes, if any? Is there anything we can learn from any of Bush's policies about anything? I try and ponder these questions in this post.

I have decided to omit Iraq from the discussion. The arguments are too well rehearsed, and frequently, although understandably, take precedence over debabes in respect of his domestic agenda. I will address issues pertaining to the American economy, social policy and religious tolerance.

1. Tax cuts

People saw the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 as a sign that a particularly ideological President had entered the White House. Al Gore, Bush's opponent in the 2000 election, had argued that the cuts would unduly favour the rich, and John Kerry repeated the criticism in 2004 by stating that George Bush and himself (two very wealthy individuals) did not need a tax cut.

Much of the criticism has justification in the sense that the cuts were more beneficial towards the rich than the poor. But there is evidence to suggest they did what they were designed to do, namely, reinvigorate investment and stimulate job creation, not merely allow rich people to grow richer. And, if I remember correctly, the cuts were a provisional measure; they were not permanent rates.

Do you hear of anyone these days, in 2006, bemoaning the Bush administration for not having created a single job, as was the case in 2003-04? Hardly. Consider the argments for a strong economy, contained on the page http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/05/11/tax.cuts/index.html, where one individual (ok, he is a Republican) estimates job creation at over 5 million, and growth to be steady. I am not an economist, but the evidence, if we are to accept it as being broadly true, does give a cetain indication that tax cuts lead to economic improvement, which of course means more employment for all.

2. Abstinence education

Conservatives have claimed that the decline in America's out-of-wedlock teen pregnancy rates have been the result of the greater role abstinence programs have played in US sex education. A study by the think tank, Heritage, has linked the two, and the reported benefits of abstinence over 'safe sex' have been championed by other conservative Christian organisations.

President Bush is both a converative, and a Christian, and, as we all know, a strong supporter of abstinence-based sex education programs. His administration has spent millions of dollars promoting this form of sex ed., over the 'safe sex' version. This we do know. What we don't know, at least at the present time, is the ultimate effect of this policy on the activities of young Americans.

It is difficult to determine whether the federal endorsement of abstinence programs has had a significant impact, during President Bush's almost six years in office. The results are, so to speak inconclusive, as reported in this 2005 article in respect of Texas teenagers http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6894568/. It seems that at best we can say, in the words of Dr. Buzz Pruit, that "the jury is still out".

Perhaps history will judge the President kindly. We shall see.

3. Islam in America

The final area I want to consider is President Bush's treatment of American muslims. We often hear how the war in Iraq was merely a thinly-disguised crusade for Christianity, and how the American President's description of international terrorists as 'Islamo-fascists' was offensive Islamophobia.

Now, whilst there are many criticisms to be made of a) the decision to invade Iraq and b) the political leadership's conduct since the invasion, I have never accepted the 'Christian crusade' argument or believed that George Bush has an intolerant streak.

Bush has repeatedly on a variety of occasions made the important distinction between terrorism and true Islam. Consider his comment that "The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace." That was on September 17th, 2001. Or consider his comments of the 19th November 2001, when he referred to the Islamic faith in these terms - "That word has guided billions of believers across the centuries, and those believers built a culture of learning and literature and science" and subsequently that "All the world continues to benefit from this faith and its achievements." I cannot recall any official insult, nor a report of any private disparaging remark, in respect of the Islamic faith.

The President was right to defend muslims after September 11th. This Islamic source indicates how Bush distanced his administration from the anti-Islamic remarks of some conservative Christian leaders in the wake of the terrorist attacks. http://www.submission.org/islam/editorial-NOV02.html


Conclusion

George W. Bush was elected in 2000 with an interesting set of domestic policies, such as his
his support for the 'faith-based initiative', the poverty-fighting weapon as desribed in Marvin Olasky's book, Compassionate Conservatism. Sadly, the main issues of Bush's 2000 election campaign were forgotten in the midst of the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, which changed the priorities of his Presidency and re-orientated the administration's goals around foreign policy objectives.

In regard to the three 'indices' I have considered, which deliberately omitted the military invasion of Iraq, I summarise my 'findings'.

The tax cuts will be seen as a triumph by conservatives, who generally prioritise economic prosperity over questions of inequality, but not by liberals who have become concerned over the growing gap between the rich and poor since c. 1981. In respect of abstinence, we may all have our own views of what best prevents unwanted teen pregnancies but it seems in order to assess Bush's record we need to wait for reports which will come in the future. Although I have only brushed the surface on the Bush administration's relations with American muslims, the evidence points more in the direction of tolerance than discrimination, and kindness rather than emotional anger, evidence that suggests Bush is more of a unifiying figure than many might give him credit for.

As with all my posts, I have only offered a sketch of the issues.

My only hope is that they point in a more-or-less accurate direction!