Blogs > Bush--Conservative Pariah?

Oct 12, 2006

Bush--Conservative Pariah?



Peter Beinart takes on the rightwingers who now want to disavow Bush, claiming he's not a conservative.

Here's what Beinart says about Bush's spending reputation:

"To listen to Bush's critics, you would think that discretionary, nonsecurity-related spending has exploded on his watch. But it hasn't. As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has shown, when you take account of inflation and population growth, it grew a mere 2 percent between 2001 and 2006. And, as a percentage of GDP, it actually fell. What has exploded--rising 32 percent after inflation and population growth--is spending on defense, homeland security, and international affairs. And the people most responsible for those increases are conservatives themselves, who demanded an expansive war on terrorism. "

Click here to read the full piece.


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Jonathan Dresner - 10/13/2006

It was supposed to go down, not stay the same. Whole liberal departments were supposed to be slashed; welfare programs cut to the bone so that charitable Christians could take over those roles, etc.