George W Bush

[MODU]

I still Approve.  Congress on the other hand...

[MODU]

I still Approve.  Congress on the other hand...

What do you like about him?

What are you looking for?  Policies or Personal Characteristics?

[MODU]

Why not give us the whole laundry list of the wonder that is George W. Bush in the mind of MODU - both personal and policy.

hahaha . . . well, I'll give you the top 10 to save time/space:

Policies (in no particular order):
- Hydrogen initiative:  Though it is still short of the Manhattan Project I would want, it is the first major government-sponsored push in this field, laying the foundation for our future society.  
- Social Security:  Though Congress failed to do their job (again), Bush was right to push them to develop a comprehensive plan in order to repair/replace the existing Social Security system.  Investing portions of those funds into the market increases the revenue potential over what the current system provides.
- War on Terrorism:  Refused to treat terrorism as a police issue, taking the battle (both diplomatically and militarily) to the enemies of our nation and our allies.  Through which Libya abandoned their WMD programs, Lebanon freed from Syria, Pakistan and Middle East states turning against terrorist groups, Saddam killed, etc.
- Tax Cuts:  Record tax revenues at lower tax rates speaks volumes.  
- Free Trade:  Opening more markets with fewer hurdles for US companies to sell their goods and services internationally as well as to invest and expand their operations.
- Supreme Court nominations:  Two good judges appointed to help ensure the Constitution is interpreted properly.
- Forest Restoration:  The clearing out of debris from the nation’s forest to ensure healthy growth of national park trees while removing the fuel for forest fires is good for the environment, especially when droughts may occur.
- Prescription Drug Benefit:  Though more expensive than projected, the program does reduce the costs seniors have to pay on their daily medications.  It just needs to be streamlined to consolidate some of the option plans for easier selections.
- No Child Left Behind:  Forcing schools and teachers to be accountable for the quality of the education they provide is long overdue.  Congress just needs to finish funding it.
- Stem Cell Research:  Freezing the expansion of federal funds to be used towards embryonic stem cell research while increasing funding into other lines of stem cell research.

Characteristics:
- Doesn't make policy based off of opinion polls.
- Sticks with his decisions, even when they are controversial.
- Isn't publicly phased by criticism.

[MODU]

What does MODU not like about George W. Bush - if anything. You can keep it to your top 10 (you know, to save space) if the length of the list becomes a difficulty.

EDIT:  Sorry about that, I had to run out to the hospital.

Easy enough:
- Congressional spending:  He has not done enough to curb congressional spending.  While he was able to bully down their budgets with the threat of a veto, he could have done more.
- Public Relations:  Most of Bush's problems come from a terrible PR job.  While he gets great credit for not responding to personal attacks and low poll numbers, he fails to get his message across on a timely basis.
- Syria:  After supporting Lebanon following their separation from Syria, he needed to do more with Syria to break them away from Iran.
- Domestic Policy:  Unfortunately, Bush has been tied up with international affairs since 9/11 that he hasn't focused enough energy on the domestic front.
- Immigration:  Failed to get immigration reform completed, and completely ignored the need to modernize the Dept of Labor and streamline the immigration process (creating unnecessary "paperwork" illegals due to the delays causing visa's to expire).
- Venezuela:  Didn't do enough early on to marginalize the effect of Hugo Chavez.
- Canadian Timber Tariffs:  Though I understand why the tariff was enacted (our market being flooded with subsidized lumber, hurting our own companies), it was the wrong action to take since it violated our NAFTA agreement and weakened ties with one of our best allies.
- Putin:  After starting off so strong, Bush has allowed the relationship between him and Putin to soften, reducing the positive influence we were having on the democratization of Russia.  Additionally, Russia should have been brought in more with the democratization of the former Soviet states, resulting in warmer ties between the neighboring nations.
- Creationism vs Evolution:  Bush was right that creationism should be taught in school, but erred when he said it should be taught in science class.  As a result, it sparked a debate where one wasn't needed.  He should have called for it to be taught along with all the other creation beliefs in history/English classes.
- Iran:  More could have been done to assist Rafsanjani runoff election against Ahmadinejad.  Though we cannot provide funding directly, we do have a pro-Western operation within the northern regions of Iran, primarily through the Kurdish/Azerbaijani regions.  We might be able to recover from this in the next election as Ahmadinejad has nearly brought the nations' industries/markets to a halt.

[MODU]

Say, MODU, why would you be so strongly disapproving of congress?  It is the president who has the real power.

The President might have "the real power," but he doesn't have "all the power."  Congress has failed in their duties.