never argue politics when you're half asleep

My buddy Mike and I have a great deal of overlap, especially these days, in our political views. He's a fairly moderate conservative who, I think, no longer really sees himself as a Republican, especially given how the GOP ruined its own brand by sacrificing its principles and allowing itself to be walked all over by the increasingly leftist, wild-eyed Democrats. 

But a night or two before Mike left, we were talking politics rather desultorily when I mentioned the idea, which I've held for years, that George W. Bush severely mismanaged the economy. Mike disagreed; he thought Bush had done a decent job given the disasters that befell his administration: like 9/11 during his first term. Mike tried to be charitable as I fumbled to think of the reasons behind my long-held contention, which I'd spouted out like a well-worn mantra, i.e., thoughtlessly. Mike offered the subprime mortgage crisis, near the end of Bush's second term, as a possible reason to think Bush had mismanaged things (but I think Mike's contention was that the crisis wasn't Bush's fault).

I was pretty sure it wasn't the subprime mortgage crisis I'd had in mind as a reason to blame Bush for a bad economy. So I've been casting about, looking for reasons why people have contended that Bush mishandled the economy, in an effort to remind myself of the foundations of my position. The Democrats, of course, offered plenty of reasons, some of which were merely "reasons" with no substance: life became less affordable and less secure; the nation as a whole had become less financially secure; health-care premiums had increased by 78% since 2001; gas prices had gone from $1.47/gal in 2001 to $4.08 in 2008; college-education costs had risen over 60% from 2001 to 2008; housing affordability was problematic (this was right at the beginning of the subprime crisis); as families work harder, wages have been declining; job creation has been at among the worst levels since Hoover; unemployment rates (4.2% to 5.5%, 2001-2008) and sheer joblessness have both increased; Bush turned Clinton-era surpluses into deficits...*

Ding! I'm pretty sure that that's what I was thinking of. And the article goes on: 

Bush Republicans, addicted to borrowing, increased the national debt by over $3 trillion. President Bush is the most fiscally irresponsible American president, having presided over the largest explosion of debt in our nation's history. Every year since taking office, President Bush requested that Congress increase the statutory debt limit, resulting in a $3.2 trillion, or 57 percent, increase._[71] At the end of 2007, the federal debt was $9.0 trillion,_[72]or nearly $30,000 for every man, woman, and child in America._[73]The public debt currently stands at $9.4 trillion._[74]

$9.4 trillion sure seems quaint, doesn't it? We're at $35 trillion currently, and not even Trump did anything to put a dent in that.

I was half-asleep when I'd made my claim and fumbled, but now that I'm more awake, I also think I'd mentally linked this profligacy to Bush's misguided war efforts. I had been against the Iraq war; Mike and my buddy Dave had been for it, and while I'm not against war in general, I could easily see (as could many pundits) what the war would lead to: the terms used by the press at the time were "mission creep" and "quagmire." Add to that the same Vietnam War-era sniper and IED tactics—all foreseeable—and I think history has borne out my own convictions. Of course, I never bought into the angry shouts of "Halliburton!" and "No blood for oil!", especially after seeing how Iraq itself, after the majority of the fighting, doled out deals to countries other than America (scroll down to the chart). So much for "blood for oil." But there were plenty of reasons to be against the war that had nothing to do with stupid slogans: mission creep, having no coherent strategic goals, misunderstanding "the desire for freedom," trying to create a "democracy-quake," etc..

So I think that's it: Bush's war-driven spendthriftiness, and his increase of the size of the government by creating Homeland Security and instituting the Orwellian Patriot Act, helped sink the US economy. We can add his globalism (i.e., engage in trade deals and export jobs to other, cheaper countries) to the list, too. But it's not as though Obama came along and rescued the economy: there's a Gallup article from 2014 that, by today's polarized standards, is surprisingly objective in its assessment of how Bush was still largely being blamed for the weak economy while Obama was less blamed (but still blamed by many).

The above-linked article is worth a read, but if you really want to hear reasons for why to hate George W. Bush, watch these Styx videos:

George W Bush Refuses to Endorse Trump: Nice!

Beijing Biden Echoes George W Bush, Invokes Patriotism as an Alternative to Freedom

Some DeSantis Fans Are Trying to Revive the Bush-Era Military Worship Cult

Liberals Today Remind me of Bush Neocons From the Mid 2000s

Mike Pence is George W Bushes More Stupid Cousin

The Lefts' "War on Democracy" Nonsense is Straight Out of the George W Bush Playbook

MAGA or Nothing: I Will Abandon the GOP if They Return to the Old "Normal"

Every Shitty Republican is Endorsing Kamala Harris (indirect criticism)

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*I note with amusement that almost all of the above accusations are now being made by MAGA Republicans against the Biden Democrats. Since Trump is himself a 90s-era Democrat, which is why so many in the GOP hate him, it's essentially old, 1990s-era Dems versus new, 2020s-era Dems. The GOP has essentially made itself irrelevant.