George W. Bush: Promises, Promises
The Pledges The President Made Three Years Ago Now Seem Easier Made Than Kept
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Bush Presidency
The president's agenda, plus facts, figures, major events and key personalities.
It was three years ago tonight that Pres. Bush accepted his party's nomination for a second term. He did so in a speech rife with promises.
More than any other address he has given since, including his Inaugural nearly 5 months later, that speech to the 2004 Republican National Convention laid out his plans for his second term.
But three years after the fact, an examination of that speech shows that Pres. Bush has been unable to deliver on most of his pledges. That’s not to say he didn’t try. But he didn’t prove to be a closer.
Take Social Security:
“We must strengthen Social Security by allowing younger workers to save some of their taxes in a personal account -a nest egg you can call your own, and government can never take away,” he told GOP delegates that night in Madison Square Garden.
He waged an aggressive campaign for his plan to let American workers contribute some of their Social Security taxes into a private retirement account that he expected would give a better rate of return than the government-run plan.
During the first six months of his second term he gave 38 speeches in 29 states on behalf of his Social Security plan. But to no avail.
He acknowledged that Social Security is regarded as the third rail of American politics. And he was definitely shocked by the depth of resistance to the changes he advocated, even among members of his own party.
Before the year was out, he had given up on his plan.
He didn’t try as hard on another of his convention pledges.
“In a new term, I will lead a bipartisan effort to reform and simplify the federal tax code,” Mr. Bush had pledged. He called the tax code “a drag on the economy” and “a complicated mess.”
He started out trying to be faithful to that promise. Even before his second term began, he appointed a bipartisan panel to study the code and recommend changes to make it more simple and fair.
The panel delivered its recommendations on November 1, 2005. But they’ve been gathering dust at the Treasury Department ever since. Mr. Bush never acted on them and almost never mentions the subject of overhauling the tax code.
In his convention speech, he promised to create jobs by encouraging investment, restraining federal spending, reducing regulation and making his tax cuts permanent.
Just last week, Mr. Bush boasted that since August of ’03, 8.3-million new jobs have been added to the nation’s payrolls. Democratic critics argue that he fails to deduct the number of jobs lost, which would diminish Mr. Bush’s claim.
And despite the volatility on Wall Street, there’s no question that investments are booming.
As for federal spending, the size of the annual federal deficit has been coming down since reaching a high of $413-Billion in 2004. The Administration forecasts a deficit this year of $205-Billion. The forecast from the Congressional Budget Office is lower still at $158-Billion.
But the size of the National Debt has soared. It now stands at $8.9-Trillion dollars - numerically in excess of the debt ceiling authorized by law. On the day Mr. Bush took office, it was $5.7-Trillion. That’s a 57% increase on Mr. Bush’s watch. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is already calling on Congress to hike the debt ceiling as soon as possible for the fifth time in six years.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



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See all 300 Commentsrednecks, reborns, christian creeps, republican snakes...
nothing good comes out of the south.
non muslims of the world unite... fight against the tyranny of the fascist nazi terrorslam imperialist empire of the darkside...
I was a fanatic...I know their thinking, says former radical Islamist
By blaming the Government for our actions, those who pushed this "Blair''s bombs" line did our propaganda work for us.
More important, they also helped to draw away any critical examination from the real engine of our violence: Islamic theology.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=465570&in_page_id=1770
Bless the Beasts and Children
Fascist nazi terrorslam kills every man woman and child in the village again%u2026 typical mo for terrorslam%u2026
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/bless-the-beasts-and-children.htm
Our Prophet commanded us to fight the kaafirs when we are able and to attack them in their homelands and to give them three choices before we enter their lands: either they become Muslim and be like us, sharing our rights and duties; or they pay the jizyah (poll tax) and feel themselves subdued; or they fight, in which case their wealth, women, children and homes become permissible as booty for the Muslims.
http://islamqa.com/index.php?ref=13759&ln=eng&txt=before%20islam%20arabia%20pagan
the truth about fascist nazi terrorislam...
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/what-really-happened/
I have read your negative comments about southerners for the past several months and I have had enough!!!! I find your comments disgusting. If you were a true student of history you would know that presidents Woodrow Wilson, and Harry S. Truman both had ancestral ties to the Confederacy and both presidents led our country to victory in WWI and WWII. Harry S. Truman also was an Army Captain during WWI. Although I do not agree with the current Iraq War Policy, I serve along side service men and women everyday here in Iraq. If you believe that all southerners agree and support the Bush administration perhaps you need an education.
The U.S. Military is made up of Great Americans from all over the country. These young Americans are dying in the streets here in Iraq everyday giving everything they have because they believe in their country and way of life. For you to suggest that southerners are backstabbers, and liars is unacceptable, they deserve better that. What you said is totally un- American. Have you ever fought for you country? I doubt it. Or would you rather be a coward and leave it up to others like southerners? Check the causality reports sometime Seven-Pesos, you might be surprised just how many southerners are dying here in Iraq. You should have your citizenship revoked, that is if you are even a citizen. To think that lives are being lost to defend freedom of speech for pathetic people like you,%u2026UNBELIEVABLE!!!
As far as I''m concerned he was through a long time ago.
Just think he and ''Tricky Duh'' only have about 505 days left. Won''t that be a glorious day!!!!!
I''m not too proud of my country anymore...the "leadership" has let me down...America can do better!!!
Posted by nikosk1 at 06:57 AM : Sep 02, 2007
hahaha
"Everybody in politics lies, but they [the Clintons] do it with such ease, it%u2019s troubling,%u201D Geffen said.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003548043
Hillary Clinton''s Former Campaign Finance Director Indicted
http://www.wnbc.com/politics/4063107/detail.html
hillary lies
But a Hillary Tale About Her Childhood
http://hillaryspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MTE3OTBlZWUxMTI0NjVjZDhkNTExYTc3NWJiZTE4ODI=
Hillary''s "Feminist Problem"
The Nation: Feminists Rescind Their Support For Former First Lady
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/15/opinion/main2934136.shtml
Watergate reporter demolishes Hillary%u2019s career story
reveal a number of %u201Cdiscrepancies%u201D in her official story.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article1719879.ece
Opponents hammer Clinton on Iraq%u2026 dance billary dance hahaha
http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/blogs/politicalticker/2007/05/opponents-hammer-clinton-on-iraq.html
hahahaha people paying to listen to an admitted, proven, convicted, impeached, disbarred liar%u2026lol
For Clinton, New Wealth In Speeches
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/22/AR2007022202189.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/21/AR2007022100993_pf.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17263999/
The link provided here would be front page in the newspapers and on 24-7 on the networks if the mainstream media weren''t the toe-tapping dogs of the Establishment.
This is a rather lengthy expose of the Detroux pedophile affair involving Euro-trash fascists, particularly those in Belium and their American associates as well as ties to Craig Spence, Colonel Aquino and blackmail schemes aimed at political figures in Washington and elsewhere.
This connects right up with the Franklin Affair and the perverts who have been exposed over the last few years...from the boy toys for hire whose midnight White House tour made headlines under Bush41 to the male prostitute who spent overnighters at the White House under Bush43.
The people are debased, vile and contemptible and should be brought down.
http://www.pehi.eu/dutroux/Belgian_X_dossiers_of_the_Dutroux_affair.htm
Of course, the ABCCBSNBCPBSFOXCNN Network will tell you all about Senator "Wide Stance" but somehow the all-seeing eye is blind when it comes to addressing the murder, kidnapping, toruture and prostitution of children by ''important'' circles of the ruling class, their occultists, their Pentagon and security aparatchiki...and the cover-ups by the their State''s ''justice'' departments.
PEOPLE WHO EVER BELIEVED BUSH ARE DRUNK ON KOOL-AID!
HE IS RULED BY DELUSIONS THINKING GOD TOLD HIM TO INVADE IRAQ TO SAVE ISRAEL!
NOW HE IS PLANNING TO ATTACK IRAN FOR THE SAME REASON!
IF HE WERE A PRIVATE CITIZEN HE WOULD BE COMMITTED!
HE AND HIS REPUBLICAN BUDDIES HAVE RUINED THIS NATION AND IT WILL TAKE DECADES TO REPAIR THE DAMANGE THEY HAVE DONE!
The worst president ever.
Too cowardly to serve in Vietnam when his coutry called.
A business failure.
Alcoholic.Coke head.
Disgrace to his family, alma mater, country.
Arrogant boastful idiot.
Architect of America''s disastrous foreign policy.
Hated around the world.
A total disaster.
Failure.
A typical Republican.
He is a disgrace to our military, the honorable uniform and to the entire nation altogether.
Posted by nikosk1 at 06:57
Yeah, and that too !
"If you were a true student of history you would know that presidents Woodrow Wilson, and Harry S. Truman both had ancestral ties to the Confederacy"
And this is something to be proud of? Descendants of traitorous *** that supported slavery and caused a war that took more American lives than any other? Please. And by the way, I AM a student of history and Woodrow Wilson was a racist piece of ... (well, more overtly so than his contemporaries anyways)
"What you said is totally un-American..."
Boy do I love this phrase. Do you people have any idea how fascist, thought controlling, and propagandistic this phrase even is? You people have no clue. All through the eighties when I was here you people railed against the Soviet "Commies" when you are really them. UNAMERICAN? What frickin joke...
"Have you ever fought for you country"
Will you and everyone else shut up with this s h i t, really? The U.S. hasn''t fought a necessary war since WWII. Every, EVERY other military engagement has been in has been one of outright self-interet and gangland thuggery masked in the pretense of humanitarianism. Every one. Oh yes, thank God for the bloody Americans... please...
cont''d...
That''s not surprising. But they''re there for the same reason so many Blacks and Latinos end up in the military %u2013 they have so little viable life options after coming out of High School. Lets be real here, the big difference between that group and ''Southerners'' is that for the most part they haven''t bought into the patriotic ***. Here these poor southern boys are fighting some rich man''s war that they don''t even benefit from and getting limbs blown off daily. Incidentally very similar to the majority of Southern whites who fought for the slave owners in the American Civil War.
cont''d...
Posted by RealAmerica1 at 06:13 AM : Sep 02, 2007
You know I was born and raised in the South and yes there have been a few that have escaped the narrow minded bigotry of this part of the Country. That in NO WAY justifies the Norm and we as a people should accept that fact. Without a doubt the most EVIL DISGUSTING humans to ever walk this planet have been a product of the fear and cowardness of the South. WHY they can''t accept change, why they are so afraid of things that are different and new is beyond me but I know FIRST hand what happens to "liberal''s" in the South. I know FIRST hand what happens to those who do not want to march to the "accepted" ways. You can blast people who point out those facts all you want but in the end ONLY the folks who live here can change what is TRUTH!! There are a majority of people in the South who will do just about anything so they can feel superior or better than other. It can be as mild as driving around with a Confederate Battle Flag in their window or as bad as puttin a rope around a black man and dragging him through the streets. Please do NOT attack others for pointing out our very obvious failings IF you will say NOTHING to someone who has a bumper sticker saying Heritage not Hate over the Confederate Flag. It''s very hard to defend something as disgusting as Human Slavery as being Heritage.. VERY hard indeed.
While at least the first part of your statement goes in your favor, I think you are off about the latter part. I read Seven-Pesos posts too, but do not take them as literally as you do. While I may be mistaken about Seven-Pesos'' intent, I believe the post are meant as a stab in the eye of all the holier than thou, flag waving, glad to be an Uh-mer-i-can and don''t know s h i t about the world, hypocritical, closet Nazi''s out there. It is a not so gentle reminder that the reality is, in this country if you don''t have a southern accent or fake like you have ancestry from the South (like the Connecticut bred Bush %u2013 why the hell are you talking like that?) you have little chance of electibility in many of those red states.
cont''d...
No, I''m not servin'' in no American military. Hell no. This planet would have to be invaded by space aliens before I fight under an American flag.
skyk below me is spot on. I know for a fact that you southern blokes can say what you wish in New York and San Francisco and though people may disagree with you that''s about all. But If I''m in Mississippi, Kansas, Idaho and Kentuck at Joe Six Packs local gathering I''m in real fear of my life. In which case, I''m pro gun at that point.
So to Seven-Pesos, I say to you, go get em''.
So to Seven-Pesos, I say to you, go get em''''.
Posted by grimloxz at 07:41 AM : Sep 02, 2007
Yeah I know. While in the Marine Corps I had a very good friend who happened to be black AND a Muslim. That never bothered me in the least becasue he had protected my back so many times and I his. Anyway, he died on rainy, muddy day when we were caught in a crossfire. When I got home I recieved a letter from his brother wanting to know if he could visit and talk about how his brother died and get to know the friend in his letters. He came for a visit and the way the people here treated him embarrassed me then and even more so today. Don''t know why but they are the most cowardly creatures on planet earth. Anything or anyone that isn''t in "place" scares them and everyone knows a Coward is a very dangerous thing when in a group.
Idiot boy is irrevelent.
If Cheney was not insane Idiot boy would be impeached.
of comp-time and flex-time in lieu of overtime pay. Such changes have yet
to be enacted."
That was laughable, anyway.
Was it for the benefit of the Average American? No. It was so Boss Joe Corporate could schedule you for a 5-day week but work you however he wanted if he felt the need to, say, meet a shipment deadline or have Friday off so he could go golf.
All without paying you overtime, which can sometimes could make you feel a little better about having to miss little Susie''s piano recital or Johnny''s first t-ball game.
In short, the President wanted to give the Corporation more flexibility at less expense and you less money and less freedom to plan your life and that of your family.
But a promise is like a marriage with yourself. Its the last thing standing in the world of spoken words.. a world of unbelievable numbers of spoken words, all wasted. All in envy.. of "promise". Watching and waiting for its eventual demise. "One day you''ll be just like us." All the other words tell it, everyday. "No.." It says. "Never.."
"I''ll commit suicide before I''m like you."
loser,
stupid 3rd generation,
shameless,
surrounded by fools and acolytes,
coward,
arrogant,
mission accomplished,
Katrina,
moron
I''m sure when Social Security goes broke and massive tax increases are required to save the problem the Democrats and their close corrupt pals in our liberal wolfpack press, like CBS (Corrupt Broadcasting Station) will "coverup" the history.
Our President did loose here...............the American people did.
Really sad and that''s just the facts folks.
And you''ll notice it. You''ll see it. You can''t hide the truth.. even the biggest deceiver in all the world can''t hide the truth.
You''ll see its color. Different.. distinct. A word, the last word, the last word that''ll turn yer head..
Posted by perception5
Sorry perception, but you''re misconception.
Your friend idiot boy achieved a lot!
He taught the world to hate America!
He taught Americans to hate Republican s(um !
And he taught the rest of us to pity America,
He blew it. Want proof ?
Take one look at *** Cheney.
And us? We talk. We talk and we want our to mean something. It has to mean something.. or its like everybody''s wearing earplugs and ya just see these.. thousands of people.. their mouths moving nonstop. Saying millions and millions of things.. and with their whole bodies! And they all mean.. nothing.
Abalufia.. That everything was said before. Everything.. except the word.. "promise".
HONORABLE: PERFORMED OR ACCOMPANIED WITH MARKS OF HONOR OR RESPECT.
I HAVE LOST COUNT HOW MANY TIMES THIS PRESIDENT, HAS USED THE WORD HONORABLE TO DESCRIBE HIS ADMINISTRATION, AND GOP BUDDIES.
THERE''S GOOD OLE SCOOTER, RUMMY, ROVE, GONZO, FOLEY,CRAIG AND MANY MORE.
SOUNDS LIKE IF YOU ARE A REPUBLICAN, YOU ARE A HONORABLE PERSON, IF YOU ARE A DEMOCRAT, WELL I GUESS YOU CAN ONLY HOPE THAT SOMEDAY. YOU CAN BECOME HONORABLE.
STAY THE COURSE
Thats why I''m always an azzzhole, and you people should be too. Because its a.. safe zone, see. Its a.. place of comfort. "The azzzhole zone".
Nobody expects any promises from an azzzhole.
hahahahahahaha
U.S. Economy: Expansion Was Faster Than Estimated
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aP3CFLmKC2CQ&refer=worldwide
Deficit Falls to $205 Billion
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8QAD5LG1&show_article=1
Good Thing We Cut Taxes
http://ezraklein.typepad.com/blog/2006/09/good_thing_we_c.html
Don''t Just Cut Taxes - Cut Spending
http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed021802.cfm?RenderforPrint=1
The greatest economic boom ever
Just how red-hot is the current worldwide expansion? "This is far and away the strongest global economy I''ve seen in my business lifetime," U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson declared on a recent visit to Fortune''s offices.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/07/23/100134937/index.htm?section=money_latest
The link provided here would be front page news in the newspapers and would be 24-7 on the networks if the mainstream media weren''t the toe-tapping dogs of the Establishment.
This is a rather lengthy expose of the Detroux pedophile affair involving Euro-trash fascists, particularly those in Belgium and their American associates. It ties in the prostitution ring around Craig Spence, the US intelligence, psychological ops specialist and satanist Colonel Aquino named in the Presido child abuse case and blackmail schemes aimed at political figures in Washington and elsewhere.
It connects right up to the Franklin Affair and the perverts who have been exposed over the last few years...from the boy toys for hire whose midnight White House tour made headlines under Bush41 to the male prostitute who spent overnighters at the White House under Bush43.
These people are debased, vile and contemptible and should be brought down.
http://www.pehi.eu/dutroux/Belg
ian_X_dossiers_of_the_Dutroux_affair.htm
Of course, the ABCCBSNBCPBSFOXCNN Network will tell you all about Senator "Wide Stance" but somehow the all-seeing eye is blind when it comes to addressing the murder, kidnapping, torture and prostitution of children by ''important'' circles of the ruling class, their occultists, their Pentagon and security aparatchiki...and the cover-ups by the their State''s ''justice'' departments.
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