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Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Overall, a pretty good year for President Bush

Despite the drumbeat of negative coverage of his administration by the mainstream (aka liberal) media, 2005 wasn't such a bad year for George W. Bush.

The nation took some heavy blows in 2005, but withstood the punches remarkably well. Chalk it up to the resiliency of the American people and the optimism of George Bush. Never underestimate the role of the president as a national cheerleader or grief counselor. The right president can help the nation get through the toughest of times. Remember all the Democrats keeping their fingers crossed for a recession following Hurricane Katrinna? Imagine where we’d be if John "Doom and Gloom" Kerry had been sitting in the White House. We’d still be filling sandbags in New Orleans.

While the Chicken Little Democrats run around screaming "The sky is falling!" the nation is poised for better things in 2006.

The Iraq war and the overall war on terror continue to be a drain on the federal budget, and the Bush administration should start sending bills to the nations of Europe and the Middle East who are getting a free ride on the backs of Uncle Sam. Despite the cost of the war and the huge cleanup facing the Gulf Coast from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the U.S. economy is doing remarkably well.

With absolutely no help from congressional Democrats, who have chosen to become national obstructionists until 2008, the Bush administration can point to the creation of 1.8 million new jobs in 2005 — nearly 4.5 million jobs since May 2003. The economy actually got stronger as the year progressed, growing at a 4.3 percent pace in the third quarter.

Credit the booming U.S. economy to the middle-class tax cuts that President Bush pushed through Congress. Americans have more money to spend, invest and save. So don’t believe the tired lines about "tax cuts for the rich" that the left-wing brigade keeps pushing. More Americans own homes than at any other point in the nation's history.

The Bush tax cuts need to be made permanent and there's no better time to tell your congressmen, especially the do-nothing Democrats, that their jobs are on the line in 2006 unless they get with the program.

Despite the cacophony of surrender put forth by the radical left, President Bush stood his ground on the war on terror. The result has been remarkable progress in bringing Democracy to parts of the world that have been ground down by fascist dictators for decades.

Three successful elections were held in Iraq in 2005, with tens of millions of men — and, more importantly, women — risking their lives to make a bold statement to the world: "We want freedom and peace. We want a future for our children." Contrast that with images of a caged animal named Saddam Hussein, once the supreme dictator of all of Iraq now on trial for his life. "This year, we watched the Iraqi people defy the terrorists and suicide bombers and hold three successful elections, voting to choose the only constitutional, democratic government in the Arab world," Bush said in a New Year's Eve radio broadcast taped at his Texas ranch. "We also saw the people of Afghanistan elect a democratic parliament in a nation that only a few years ago was ruled by the Taliban."

Take that John Murtha, Cindy Sheehan and Howard Dean.

With a smooth transition from the Alan Greenspan era accomplished, the U.S. economy is revving up at twice the rate of almost any other nation. "Inflation is low, productivity is high and small businesses are flourishing," Bush said. "Real disposable income is up. Consumers are confident, and early reports suggest good retail sales this holiday season."

Other successes for the president include the confirmation of John Roberts as chief justice of the Supreme Court. When Judge Samuel Alito joins the court in a few weeks, the president will have fulfilled one of his key campaign promises: Steer the court back on the right path, away from the judicial activism of radical liberal judges. And let’s keep our fingers crossed that John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be the next two justices to leave the court.

The appointment of John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a move opposed by the hysterical left, has already paid dividends for the U.S., forcing the most corrupt organization on the planet to work for meaningful reform. Only Kofi Annan still stands in the way of reforming the U.N.

There were setbacks in 2005 for Bush. Democrats managed to scuttle Bush’s plans to reform Social Security by scaring a lot of older Americans unnecessarily. Voters should not allow the Democrats to get away with it. Social Security is bankrupt, thanks primarily to raids of the trust fund by democratically controlled Congresses over the past 40 years.

Note to the 78 million baby boomers who are planning to retire soon only to find out that there’s nothing left in the Social Security and Medicare programs: Knock on Ted Kennedy’s door and ask what he did with your money.

The failure to renew the Patriot Act, which has protected U.S. citizens from terrorist plots over the past three years, is another open-and-shut case of dereliction of duty on the part of Democrats.

E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com

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