Obama Cements Bush Legacy

<p>Obama has expanded on many of the Bush policies that not only did I not like, but they were also the policies that liberals despised about Bush. In many respects Obama is just Bush on steroids. And for this reason, Obama has cemented the Bush legacy – especially where it deals with national security and first amendment. Let’s examine some of these massive policy blunders: <p>Spending – Bush spending increased our deficit by over 4 trillion dollars whereas Obama has already exceeded Bush’s spending in just 4 years. Obama expanded Bush spending policies on corporate bailouts and entitlements. <p>Healthcare – Bush expanded Medicare (prescription drug) and SCIP even though liberals cried foul because it “irresponsible” deficit spending. But liberals are ecstatic Obama passed the most expansive and expensive government takeover of healthcare: ObamaCare. <p>Education – Bush passed the convoluted “No Child Left Behind (NCLB)” program. What’s worse, Obama added his own bureaucratic education policy on top of NCLB: The Race to the Top. <p>War – Liberals hated the Iraq war even though we won that war and freed the nation from a genocidal lunatic. On the other hand, Obama escalated the war in Afghanistan but exited the country with the Taliban as strong as ever. And let’s not forget Obama also went to war in Libya without the consent of Congress. Remember, the weapons supplied to Libya opposition forces were used in several terrorist attacks against Westerners. <p>Civil Liberties – The left was outraged by Bush’s enhanced interrogation policies used on enemy combatants. Obama does not have to “torture” enemy combatants because he does not capture them – he kills them even if they are unarmed. In fact, Obama is the first president to order the killing of American citizens who are terrorists. To make matters worse, the Obama administration says it could use drone strikes within the United States to execute American terrorists or criminals. By choosing to kill terrorists instead of capturing them the U.S. loses the tactical advantage of trying to garner intelligence. Obama has also refused to close Guantanamo Bay even though that was his first promise. <p>Collateral Damage – The left was outraged by the loss of civilian life during the Bush wars. However, civilian life loss under the Obama drone program has been exponentially worse. <p>Executive Privilege – The left was outraged when the Bush administration hid behind executive privilege for the outing of CIA agent Valarie Plame and the firing of U.S. judges. However, Obama has hid behind privilege for the terrorists attack in Benghazi and for his failed gun walking program “Fast and Furious”. Let it be said that no one died over the Bush executive privilege fiascos, but hundreds if not thousands died behind the Obama executive privilege fiascos. <p>Executive Power – Democrats loathed the executive power grab by the Bush administration (in particular the power of the Vice President) but that does not compare to the expansion of power made by the Obama administration in the form of czars and executive orders handed down as rules, regulations, and mandates. <p> Surveillance - Obama has escalated Bush policy to increase metadata analysis of American citizens phone calls and internet use. <p>Yes, in many respects Obama is just Bush on steroids. And, yes, this means Obama has cemented the Bush legacy. </p>