Due to the Bush Administration, I have lost faith that the checks and balances of American government work. Politics is always a game, but now the liars and media spinsters have taken it to a gross level. It is deeply saddening to me, and that makes my daily life feel uncertain and shaky.
I would much rather believe that my country is an example of individual freedom and expression, with policies that allow all members a fair shot at achievement, but I see that ebbing away in the present political climate.
as the rights get eroded in the hunt for terrorists, your rights, my rights, ALL of our rights are taken away from us.
i do NOT like this. i like my rights. they’ve already been paid for by my ancestors as a birthright. a piece of paper in an uncertain time has taken that away from me.
(Oops! It appears that not everything is Bush’s fault! I don’t mind blaming the Heathens on the Hill either.)
Walloon, I’m just tired of old people suffering and other people disintegrating into greed. I don’t begrudge great wealth to people. Some of the kindest people I’ve known have been financially successful. I just don’t understand things like “hospital dumping,” or charging so much for a new cancer cure that insurance can’t pay for it (according to NBC News.)
Sorry. I don’t mean to hijack. I’ve lost a lot of faith in our system. Fortunately, I’m very good at focusing on living in the moment.
Although I am fully convinced that either my generation or my son’s generation will bear a heavy burden for this president’s “limitless bank account”
After some additional thought, I would also like to add that my health care costs took a sharp increase of 40% in 05 and an additional 20% at the beginning of this year.
Now I can’t single-handedly blame that on the president and his handlers, but he’s definitely not been part of the solution.
I can also solidly blame him for no longer being able to discuss politics with my parents. At all. As they’ve bought into the “He’s a Godly Man and a Godly Man wouldn’t mislead us.” schtick.
Again, not entirely his fault, but shame on him (and his band of evil cohorts) for misguiding the naive, coopting Jesus, and making my holidays completely unbearable.
The I didn’t say he controls it, I said he allows it. In fact he encourages it. As a result of Bush being president, more children are being taught “intelligent design” and that evolution is “only a theory” with the implication that that means “only a hypothesis.”
Personally, I’m rather creeped by the implied tone of the OP: “If you’re not directly and personally inconvenienced by this Administration, then you don’t have a reason to complain about it.” It’s like saying only women are allowed to have opinions about abortion.
I think that the amount a federal government can impact the average citizen’s day-to-day routine in 5 years is minimal (except if they are in the military). I mean, how much did Clinton’s 8 years directly affect you? Sure he managed a boom, but did you make money on the dot-com stocks? Was that even due to anything he did? How much did Reagan’s 8 years impact you? How much did Watergate?
That said, I think the groundwork laid since 2001 could have large destabilizing events on the country. That’s what we worry about – decades of a weakened dollar and US economy, less freedoms, more government power concentrated in the executive, less checks and balances.
How direct impact has Bush had on me? Well, as a homeowner in a state with no income tax, I’ve seen spiraling property taxes used to cover less federal funding to state and local programs. As a health care provider, I’ve seen no progress and worsening of the health care situation of the majority of my patients, especially in indigent care. I’ve seen funding for medical programs shift based on political ideology. I’ve seen certain medicines and medical treatments politicized.
As a scientist, I’ve seen a basically flat NIH budget for the past few years – I’ve had to cover my bases and rearrange my goals to assure that I can get a clinical job if I can’t get a grant. I’ve seen direct limitations on research based on ideologies which I, and the majority of scientists and science ethicists, don’t share. I’ve had to help out foreign grad student friends with the many hoops that they now have to jump through to get visas. I’ve seen pseudoscience legitimized (perhaps not directly by the administration) and I’ve watched as the administration directly erodes at science education in this country.
As I’ve done above, I’d like a cite on this. All the figures I’ve seen point to an increase, not a decrease, in federal funding for pretty much every program. If you are going to claim that Bush has cut funding for these state and federal programs, please tell me which programs you are talking about.