Decius wrote:

Via the Democratic Caucus...

I'm rerecommending this chart because of the data it contains and not because of the conclusions it seeks to have you draw from that data.

The Bush Administration is certainly directly responsible for some of the changes on this list, such as international opinion of the US, and the increases in our budget and trade deficits.

However, in many respects this chart is pure partisan bullshit. The most starkly annoying aspect is the inclusion of US dependence on foreign oil as a percentage of total oil consumption by the party that faught domestic oil exploration in Alaska. You're blaiming your partisan enemy for the inevitable consequences of the policies you advocated. That's as low as it gets.

Many of the items on this list, such as the increase in oil prices and the amount of job creation, are related to aspects of the business cycle or developments in the global economy that aren't the direct responsibility of the Bush administration. Some, such as changes in the cost of insurance and the number of people insured, are more clearly political, but are the fault of a wide array of actors and not just the Presidency. In fact, the Administration did work on the insurance problem.

The things that I like about this chart are political but I don't see them as directly related to Bush. The most important statistic, I think, is the median household income. It dropped. In 8 years, it dropped.

Thats why our economy is contracting. Because in 8 years businesses have become more productive and they have increased their value but the people who live in this country haven't benefited. The only reason they've had more money to spend is because of phony inflation of the price of their homes built upon irresponsible credit mechanisms.

I suspect a lot of the real value is moving overseas. The question is whether American growth is just going to stop until the rest of the world catches up and our workers become competitive again? Thats going to take a long time. And I don't think its a problem that the Democrats are in a position to solve, although I suspect replacing the H1-B program with a permanent residency system would have a substantial impact.

You're right, and that should be obvious when considering the source. But the big easy question that you should ask is "are you better now than you were before?" For a large percentage of the population, the answer is 'no'. It's always interesting to compare lists of achievements. When Clinton's book came out, he actually had a resume which listed his highlights in office. This is a little more massaged and politicized, but that's not the point. I'd like to see what Bush's list would look like. It cannot possibly be nearly as long, even if you injected it with tons of fluff. Even if you give him a mulligan for the fact that the administration was completely waylayed by 9/11. Think back to the summer of 01. Before 9/11. What was happening at the administration? That's right. They were 'clearing brush in Crawford.' There's definitely a 'rising tide floats all boats' affect on the Clinton years, but that only serves to put an exclamation point on the delta, not explain it.

The sad thing is that I wouldn't necessarily blame the administration for the sad state of affairs we're currently in. In 2000, all of the issues that are reasonably described currently as 'crises' (public education, health care, foreign policy, economic growth and competitiveness, energy consumption, etc) were easily visible then, but there was a bit more runway to put together intervention plans and foster debate about solutions. That time has been squandered, which leaves you with far less options, higher stakes, and more of an inclination for knee jerk reactions which increases the risk of failing exponentially. For a lot of these problems, failure is not an option. This isn't just fighting Communism kids. This is that times about 50. We won't get a second chance with about 5 of those things and the results will be catastrophic to your children's way of life. Forget about your grandchildren.

This must be what it felt like when you were on the Titanic about an hour after the iceberg impact. At first it seemed totally rational to take the long view approach and not overreact. But now that the boat is listing and the scaredy cats have taken all the safety boats, you're left to be climbing up a steep incline muttering "SHIT!" And the water is a lot colder in the north Atlantic than in the south Pacific.

RE: The Legacy of George W Bush's Presidency