George W. Bush in Saving Freedom

On Budget & Economy: OpEd: weak budget negotiator against Democrats

The Republican Revolution of 1994 initially proved to be a good counterbalance to Clinton's attempt to expand government. Republicans generally worked together in the House when Clinton was President, but Republicans in the Senate were willing to go along with high levels of spending. Unfortunately the good economy and balanced budget created an excuse to increase spending dramatically.

The second President Bush had some good ideas, but he turned out to be a weak negotiator with the Democrats. Wasteful spending and earmarks expanded dramatically under Bush II and the Republican majority. The Bush tax cuts pulled the economy out of recession, but government spending and debt increased to historic levels. The number of Americans who were dependent on some government service reached the highest level in history. I began to question if President Bush and the Republican leadership shared my sense of urgency to stop America's slide toward socialism.

Source: Saving Freedom, by Jim DeMint, p. 23-24 Jul 4, 2009

On Budget & Economy: OpEd: Blamed Wall Street bailout on others, but spent $1T

Just before the pivotal election in 2008, Pres. Bush and Secretary Paulson convinced Congress to pass a Wall Street bailout bill giving the Treasury Department nearly a trillion dollars (all borrowed) to buy up bad loans clogging up the credit markets. The explanation for this massive intrusion into the private markets was too complicated for almost anyone to understand, but Americans instinctively knew something was desperately wrong with this plan. They blamed Bush, McCain, and the Republicans in Congress.

The result was a bloodbath for Republicans in the 2008 election and the installation of a powerful majority of Democrats who believed they were elected with a mandate to expand government regulation and control of the financial market. Democrats believed the financial and economic crisis was caused by deregulation and a failure of capitalism. They are now working to further centralize government power over the financial markets in the US and internationally.

Source: Saving Freedom, by Jim DeMint, p.119 Jul 4, 2009

On Education: NCLB: Dropped state flexibility to garner Dem support

Before the NCLB legislation came up for a vote in the House, the state flexibility provision was stripped. Bush agreed to drop it in return for Democrat support of the bill. I filed an amendment to add the provision back to the bill. Bush called me to th Oval Office. I was prepared for attempts to intimidate me into withdrawing my amendment. I wasn't prepared for the president to plead with me to help him avoid a "blood bath" over my amendment on the floor of the House. He was afraid that is my amendment passed, the Democrats would not support the final bill.

Had the president tried to pressure me to withdraw my amendment, it would have been easy for me to say "no." But I'm a sucker for gentle persuasion. The president promised that if I withdrew my amendment, he would make sure the state flexibility provision would be added back at some point. I agreed to withdraw the amendment. The president said "trust me" when he promised the provision would be added back, but it never happened.

Source: Saving Freedom, by Jim DeMint, p. 25 Jul 4, 2009

On Education: OpEd: NCLB's "teach the test" results in poorer education

Parents and students have little say about which services are offered. Unless they can afford a private school, most parents are essentially trapped, and despite the best intentions of many school board members and administrators, most government schools reflect a "you'll take what we give you" mentality.

President Bush thought the requirements to measure programs in No Child Left Behind would improve schools. They didn't. In fact, many teachers tell me the effort to "teach the test" in order to meet the requirements of NCLB is actually resulting in poor education. I don't have to recount the terrible statistics of America's education systems. We are losing ground to practically every other industrialized country in the world. At a time when our workforce has to compete with the best and brightest workers in a dynamic and competitive global economy, we are failing our children by keeping them in a government-run, socialist system.

Source: Saving Freedom, by Jim DeMint, p. 78-79 Jul 4, 2009

On Health Care: Preferred that seniors use Medicare to buy private insurance

Only about 25% of seniors were without insurance for prescription drugs, but the Democrats insisted that any plan had to be universal; it had to cover everyone. Bush's initial proposal would give Americans the choice to keep their private health insuranc after retirement, with Medicare helping pay for the cost of the premium. This would save the government money and give older Americans more choices of coverage. To get the Democrats on board, however, Bush gave up this provision and dramatically expanded the cost and size of the program. Medicare was already in financial trouble and the addition of universal drug coverage created a huge new unfounded liability.

Today a large majority of senior citizens are dependent on the federal government for their health care and prescription medication, the Medicare program is trillions of dollars in debt, and because of exploding costs, Medicare often pays physicians less than their cost to treat senior citizens.

Source: Saving Freedom, by Jim DeMint, p. 25-26 Jul 4, 2009

On Principles & Values: OpEd: Compassionate conservatism means big spending

The Democratic Party has become synonymous with government security. Democrats agitate and unite by reminding voters that America has been unfair, and without the protection of government, they will be alone and powerless. In so many words "freedom" is their enemy. Ironically the more dependent Americans become on government, the more insecure and fearful they become. Democrats use this fear to manipulate their votes at election time.

Republicans have become America's minority party because they have been poor salesmen of the benefits of true freedom. As Americans have become more dependent on government, Republican have tried to use a "Democrat lite" approach, trying to appeal to voters' desire for more security. George W. Bush tried to appeal to America's need for security with his big-spending, "compassionate conservative" agenda. But few Republicans have been willing to tell Americans the truth: people are most secure when they are most free.

Source: Saving Freedom, by Jim DeMint, p. 48-50 Jul 4, 2009

On Social Security: OpEd: Tried to institute personal accounts; but AARP won

Our government promised all seniors retirement income and health care, and now the cost of Social Security and Medicare is threatening to bankrupt our nation. Senior groups like the AARP are at the forefront promoting socialist solutions to fulfilling our promises to seniors.

When President George W. Bush attempted to reform Social Security with personally owned accounts (a freedom concept), the AARP ran national television ads to frighten seniors that these accounts were "risky." Remarkably they convinced seniors and the majority of Americans that it was safer to spend Social Security taxes than to save them (the federal government now spend every dime of Social Security taxes). The AARP's motives are questionable; they sell millions of dollars worth of those "risky" investments to seniors.

Source: Saving Freedom, by Jim DeMint, p.101 Jul 4, 2009

The above quotations are from Saving Freedom: We Can Stop America's Slide into Socialism, by Sen. Jim DeMint. Click here for other excerpts from Saving Freedom: We Can Stop America's Slide into Socialism, by Sen. Jim DeMint. Click here for other excerpts by George W. Bush. Click here for a profile of George W. Bush.
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