Bush : Worst President Ever

A recent article in Rolling Stone Magazine considers Bush to be the Worst President in History. Imagine that. There have been 43 Presidents so far. And some consider George to be the worst. Well, some may argue that that is merely an opinion. But here are some facts from the article:

“The monster deficits, caused by increased federal spending combined with the reduction of revenue resulting from the tax cuts, have also placed Bush's administration in a historic class of its own with respect to government borrowing. According to the Treasury Department, the forty-two presidents who held office between 1789 and 2000 borrowed a combined total of $1.01 trillion from foreign governments and financial institutions. But between 2001 and 2005 alone, the Bush White House borrowed $1.05 trillion, more than all of the previous presidencies combined. Having inherited the largest federal surplus in American history in 2001, he has turned it into the largest deficit ever - with an even higher deficit, $423 billion, forecast for fiscal year 2006. Yet Bush - sounding much like Herbert Hoover in 1930 predicting that "prosperity is just around the corner" - insists that he will cut federal deficits in half by 2009, and that the best way to guarantee this would be to make permanent his tax cuts, which helped cause the deficit in the first place!”

Pretty amazing! After receiving the largest ever budget surplus in US history from Clinton, Bush spent the whole lot and borrowed more than the previous 42 Presidents combined. And remember, that included Presidents who borrowed in order to have enough cash for 2 World Wars, recovering from the Stock market crash, the Vietnam War, the Korean War, the Cold War (including massive spending on nuclear weapons and the space race), and the first Gulf War. Wow! That certainly is a truly historical achievement! Who could ever forget Bush in the decades to come!

Gene