George Bush the Worst President in 100 Years?

[Andrew]

As far as the next president just remember no matter who wins they're going to be a politician  :-

Obama is going to bring sweeping change for the good of America.

Just kidding. I doubt he will reverse any decisions Bush has made. Such as increased presidential powers. The only change he will bring is that he is 1/2 african american. Other than that he is just another president. It would be a miracle for McCain or Obama to fix the problems created in the past 8 years, let alone problems America has had for decades. So if 8 years from now there is a balanced budget, that would be a miracle. There was a near balanced budget when Clinton left office and Bush destroyed that.

[Andrew]

Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the United States Federal Reserve Bank, faces a general investigation by the International Monetary Fund.

For seven years, US President George W. Bush refused to allow the IMF to conduct its assessment. Even now, he has only given the IMF board his consent under one important condition. The review can begin in Bush's last year in office, but it may not be completed until he has left the White House.

I'm guessing mainstream, media will not even bother mentioning this. So basically the US is screwed and Bush does not want anyone to know until he is out of office.

[Sneakgab]

Simply an attempt at making impeachment less likely? After his term is complete and the investigation carried out his name will still probably be sullied. Maybe he hopes that the (safe to assume) negative findings of the investigation won't be associated with him if they are released after his term while somebody else is president? I wonder what his plans are (if any) at continuing his political career? Maybe he wants as good a rep as possible so he can stay on with some post in government. Maybe he even intends to run again (is it more than 2 consecutive terms or just more than 2 terms that is disallowed in the USA?)

[Andrew]

Fears of Oil Supplies at Risk - Published: October 14, 2001

''If bin Laden takes over and becomes king of Saudi Arabia, he'd turn off the tap,'' said Roger Diwan, a managing director of the Petroleum Finance Company, a consulting firm in Washington. ''He said at one point that he wants oil to be $144 a barrel'' -- about six times what it sells for now.

Looks like Osama has won the war on terror (oil) without actually doing anything in the past 7 years.

[Andrew]

Senate commits to shielding telecoms from suits

The Senate on Wednesday affirmed its intention to protect from civil lawsuits telecom companies that helped the government wiretap Americans without court authorization after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Do any of you USA residents feel safer now that it is legal for telecommunication corporations to help the government spy on you without a warrant? And they went back and made the past 7 years legal.

So the government can be spying on anyone at any time and there is not a damn thing you can do about it.

Obama voted Yea. Traitor.

EDIT:

President George Bush: 'Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter'

The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter."

He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.

He certainly is a terrible president.

[Andrew]

Not related to Bush, but related to the stupidity of the war on terror.

New York Yankees ban sunblock "to fight terrorism" -- sell replacements at $5/oz

Preventing hundreds of thousands of people from bringing in their own suntan lotion to "prevent" maybe 1 crazy person is stupid.

For fans who bring babies or young children to cheer on the home team, the guard had suggested they "beg" to take the sunblock in.

Yet another mark on how low america can get for freedoms. You have to beg to protect yourself from getting cancer. Or you can stay indoors and not go see a baseball game that has occurred for around a century.

CNN reporter criticizes TSA, finds self on terror watch list

The terror watch list has 1 million names. So if you criticize the government, expect to be part of a terrorist watch list.

I for one feel safer knowing that the CNN reporter has a difficult time getting on planes. How dare he criticize the government during a time of war. He is a terrorist sympathizer.

[Andrew]

US deficit zooming to half-trillion as Bush leaves

ROFL

The government's budget deficit will surge past a half-trillion dollars next year, according to gloomy new estimates, a record flood of red ink that promises to force the winner of the presidential race to dramatically alter his economic agenda.

The deficit will hit $482 billion in the 2009 budget year that will be inherited by Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain, the White House estimated Monday. That figure is sure to rise after adding the tens of billions of dollars in additional Iraq war funding it doesn't include, and the total could be higher yet if the economy fails to recover as the administration predicts.

ROFL

[SandChigger]

I heard the deficit news this morning on CNNj. Shit. >:(

I keep thinking of the suggestion a man in the audience made a few weeks back at an Obama event. He recommended that Obama's first official act, should he be elected (fat chance, right?), be to appoint Bush US Ambassador to Iraq. That would be poetic.

There was something more today about that reporter as well. CNN asked for photographs and more information of the person or persons suspected of using the reporter's name...something like that. (Was just listening with half an ear. ;) )

[Andrew]

ABC: Without ‘creative White House accounting,’ Bush’s deficit is actually $600 billion.

Scary news for Canadians is that there is a small chance of a deficit coming soon. The conservatives have been on a spending spree and the only reason they don't have a deficit is because they just made $6 billion selling wireless airwaves.

EDIT:

Travelers' Laptops May Be Detained At Border

Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.

Note to self: Don't bring electronics to the USA. In fact don't bother going to the USA since I could be kidnapped and sent to a secret US gov prison.

EDIT:

More than 1 percent of US adults are in jail or prison

[Andrew]

2008 Deficit Forecast is $407 Billion

USA! USA! USA!

In McCains nomination speech he said he wanted to increase spending and decrease taxes while Obama wanted to increase taxes and decrease spending.

Sure that makes McCain sound better to ordinary citizens, but if Obama really did want to increase taxes and decrease spending it would be a lot better for the long term.

The US is spending $500 billion a year on interest.

[Anathema]

In McCains nomination speech he said he wanted to increase spending and decrease taxes while Obama wanted to increase taxes and decrease spending.

Uhh...what?

I haven't watched either speech in full lenght and I'll eat my humble pie if proven wrong, but this sounds incredibly out of character for both. Are you sure you don't mean decrease both taxes and spending versus increasing both?

[Andrew]

No I meant that in McCains speech McCain said something like:

"I will decrease taxes and increase spending... and Obama will increase taxes and decrease spending"

It was the part where he was comparing his positions with Obamas. Crowd cheered when McCain said what he would do, and the crowd booed when he said what Obama would do.

EDIT:

Transcript of speech

I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them. I will open…

I will open new markets to our goods and services. My opponent will close them.

I will cut government spending. He will increase it.

My tax cuts will create jobs; his tax increases will eliminate them.

My bad, McCain said he would decrease spending.

It would be a miracle for either party to have a balanced budget though.

[Khan]

With a deficit in the hundreds of billions how does McCain think he cut taxes? Even if he does decrease spending the country is still in massive debt.

[Andrew]

With a deficit in the hundreds of billions how does McCain think he cut taxes? Even if he does decrease spending the country is still in massive debt.

Duh, it will stimulate the economy.

Just like those cheques that were sent out this summer has fixed the economy.

[Anathema]

You may just as well ask where Obama will get all the money from to pay for his broad, ill-defined plans. Even if both candidates are unlikely to deliver all they promise and ballance the budget, the worst possible scenario for the budget would be when both Congress and the White House are controlled by democrats.

McCain will probably be able to cut some expenditure by fighting against earmarks (just as he was senator) and pork projects in general.

[Edric O]

You may just as well ask where Obama will get all the money from to pay for his broad, ill-defined plans.

There is plenty of money to be saved by withdrawing American troops from Iraq, or cutting down on the ridiculous defense budget in general. Not that Obama will actually do this, of course, but he could if he really wanted to.

Even if both candidates are unlikely to deliver all they promise and ballance the budget, the worst possible scenario for the budget would be when both Congress and the White House are controlled by democrats.

So far the worst ever time for the budget was when both Congress and the White House were controlled by Republicans during Bush's first term.

McCain will probably be able to cut some expenditure by fighting against earmarks (just as he was senator) and pork projects in general.

You mean the kinds of things Sarah Palin tried to get for Alaska?

[Digital Guerrilla]

George Bush, First Lady Laura and Dick Cheney were flying on Air Force One. George looked at Laura, chuckled and said, 'You know, I could throw a $1,000 bill out of the window right now and make somebody very happy.' Laura shrugged her shoulders and replied, 'I could throw ten $100 bills out of the window and make ten people very happy.' Cheney added, 'That being the case, I could throw one hundred $10 bills out of the window and make a hundred people very happy.'

Hearing their exchange, the pilot rolled his eyes and said to his co-pilot, 'Such big-shots back there. I could throw all of y'all out of the window and make 56 million people very happy.'

[Andrew]

The Spending Explosion

Turns out tax revenue has increased over the years despite tax cuts. The problem is government spending more than it makes.

[Khan]

Andrew are you seriously trying to tell us that the American government has made some economic mistakes?

[Andrew]

Andrew are you seriously trying to tell us that the American government has made some economic mistakes?

Maybe?

The government just bailed out 2 of the largest mortgage groups that failed over the weekend (they held 50% of American mortgages I believe).

Privatized profits, socialized losses.

[Sneakgab]

Anyone care to elaborate on these ''bail outs''? Does the govt hand over enough cash to them to keep them afloat indefinitely (ie: to allow for full recovery) or just to allow for a less sudden closure? The latter may have some sense in it (probably not) in allowing for less dramatic events for the economy and allowing affected people time to prepare. I don't see any reasoning behind the former. Aren't capitalists obsessed with fair competition? If so then why bother giving any help.

Were not speaking about social welfare here (well, there are some employees who might otherwise be a bit hard off for a while but other than that).

Then again, I don't know much about economics.

[Andrew]

Now that the election is over, back to business!

Senate Democrats send letters to the white house to demand them to keep all records. Cheneys office says they will not comply with the law

Democrats from the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary committees last week sent a letter to the White House demanding that it preserve all records produced by the Bush administration. The letter expressed particular concern that the office of Vice President Cheney would not comply with the law.

Yep, the shredders and magnets will be getting great use in Washington over the next 2 months. The White house already removed tonnes of emails before, and I fully expect them to hide everything else.

Bush Speaks On The Financial Crisis

President George W. Bush fervently defended U.S.-style free enterprise Thursday as the cure for the world's financial chaos, not the cause. He warned foreign leaders ahead of a weekend summit not to crush global growth with restrictive new rules.

Yep, less regulations had nothing to do with the meltdown. The 50:1 reserve ratios had nothing to do with it. Hell if there was less regulations the problem would be already solved.

/sarcasm

[MrFlibble]

Yep, less regulations had nothing to do with the meltdown. The 50:1 reserve ratios had nothing to do with it. Hell if there was less regulations the problem would be already solved.

/sarcasm

Yeah, the world's financial crisis would solve itself... when the entire civilization collapsed and famine raged through the world (on a larger scale than it does now, I mean) and so on. But those persistent guys just won't let it go. They want to make restrictions, they want to control the whole damn situation. Who do they think they are? Let the market do its thing on its own at last!

/sarcasm, too

[Sneakgab]

A funny thing is that Bush sounded relatively articulate during that speech (though, still mediocre by the standards of apes and other relatively intelligent species of animals and absolutely embarrassingly stupid to fellow humans).

Despite the increase in articulation and skill in the English language he displayed, the usual increase in intelligence commonly found and associated with these things was nowhere to be seen.

It sure is easy to say ''Free market principles will save the world without giving the slightest hint of any reason'' to back that up (well, I only observed a few minutes of the speech shown on CNN [just because it was randomly on though, of course :-[ ;D :P] though).

[Andrew]

Shoe thrower 'beaten in custody'

So the guy threw shoes at Bush, and was beaten badly when in custody. Surprise!

Even the Iraqi press dislike Bush...