'History – assuming it is written by free men and women not intimidated into silence by the fear of attracting the terrorists' notice – will be exceedingly kind to this president.'
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Sept. 16, 2007)
George W. Bush is the 43rd President of the United States. He was sworn into office on January 20, 2001, re-elected on November 2, 2004, and sworn in for a second term on January 20, 2005. Since becoming President of the United States in 2001, President Bush had to deal with a faltering economy from the Clinton Administration, Using the stock market as an unofficial benchmark, a recession would have begun in March 2000 when the NASDAQ crashed following the collapse of the Dot-com bubble. The economy having grown only at a 1.1% annualized rate over the previous three quarters from March 31 of the first year of Bush presidency. This was characterized by large layoffs, outsourcing, and a Jobless Recovery, with many formerly high-paid manufacturing and professional employees being forced into much lower paid service positions.
In his first term, Bush appointed Colin Powell as Secretary of State. Powell was the first African-American man to serve in that position, and was succeeded by Condoleezza Rice: Rice became the first African-American woman to hold the post. In 2005, he appointed Alberto Gonzalez as the United States Attorney General, the first Hespanic to hold that position. In total, Bush has appointed more women and minorities to high-level positions within his administration than any other U.S. President.
On his first day in office, Bush moved to block federal aid to foreign groups that offered counselling or any other assistance to women in obtaining abortions. Bush also successfully pushed for the Partial-Birth, enacted in 2003 with some Bi-partisan support but criticized by pro-choice groups as incursive on legalized abortion rights.
In a September 20, 2001 speech, Bush condemned Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, and issued an ultimatum to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, where bin Laden was operating, to "hand over the terrorists, or... share in their fate."
I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon. ”
President Bush has worked with the Congress to create an ownership society and build a future of security, prosperity, and opportunity for all Americans.
Between 2001 and 2003, the Bush administration instituted a federal tax cut for all taxpayers. Among other changes, the lowest income tax rate was lowered from 15% to 10%, the 27% rate went to 25%, the 30% rate went to 28%, the 35% rate went to 33%, and the top marginal tax rate went from 39.6% to 35%. In addition, the child tax credit went from $500 to $1000, and the Marriage Penalty was reduced. While the economy has grown under the Bush administration, growth was below average in comparison to the average for business cycles between 1949 and 2000. Overall real GDP has grown at an average annual rate of 2.5%. Between 2001 and 2005, GDP growth was clocked at 2.8%. Despite growth levels considerably below previous levels, a March 2006 report by the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee showed that the U.S. economy outperformed its peer group of large developed economies from 2001 to 2005. (The other economies are Canada, the European Union, and Japan.) The U.S. led in real GDP growth, investment, industrial production, employment, labor productivity, and price stability. Bush had his tax cut plan approved by Congress in June, proposed early as a response to the economic decline and, despite the aftermath of the 2001 9/11 attacks, managed to keep the country out of recession.
On December 19, 2002, Bush signed into law H. R. 4664, far-reaching legislation to put the National Science Foundation (NSF) on a track to double its budget over five years and to create new mathematics and Science education initiatives at both the pre-college and undergraduate level. In the first three years of those five, the R&D budget has increased by fourteen percent.
In January 2002, Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act, with Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy as chief sponsor, which aims to close the achievement gap, measures student performance, provides options to parents with children in low-performing Schools, and targets more federal funding to low-income schools.The House Education and Workforce Comittee stated, "As a result of the No Child Left Behind Act, signed by Bush on January 8, 2002, the Federal government today is spending more money on elementary and High School (K-12) education than at any other time in the history of the United States.
The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War or the Occupation of Iraq,[33] is an ongoing military campaign which began on March 20, 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a multinational force the goverments of the U.S. and U.K. claimed that Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) posed a serious and imminent threat to their security and that of their coalition allies. The reasons for the invasion were made by U.S. officials who accused Saddam Hussein of harboring and supporting Al-Qaeda also stated Iraq's financial support for the families of Palestinian suicide bombers, and the Iraqi government human rights abuses. The invasion led to the quick defeat of the Iraqi military, and the eventual capture and execution of Saddam Hussein. The U.S.-led coalition occupied Iraq and establish a new democratic government. However, violence against coalition forces and among various sectarian groups soon led to asymmetric warfare with the Iraqi insurgency, strife between many Sunni and Shia Iraqi groups, and al-Qaeda operations in Iraq. The number of Iraqis killed through 2007 ranges from "a conservative cautious minimum" of more than 85,000 civilians with U.S. Confirmed Deaths of 4,223 men and women ( count from DOD). In late 2008, the U.S. and Iraqi governments approved a Status of Forces Agreement. The pact establishes that U.S. combat forces will withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30, 2009, and that all U.S. forces will be completely out of Iraq by December 31, 2011. The agreement may be renegotiated to delay withdrawal, and an Iraqi referendum scheduled for mid-2009 may require all U.S. forces to completely leave by the middle of 2010.
Bush signed the Amber Alert legislation into law on April 30, 2003, which was developed to quickly alert the general public about child abductions using various media sources. On July 27, 2006 Bush signed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act which establishes a national database requiring all convicted sex offenders to register their current residency and related details on a monthly instead of the previous yearly basis. Newly convicted sex offenders will also face longer mandatory incarceration periods.
In 2003, the Bush Administration attempted to create an agency to oversee Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The bill never made progress in Congress, facing sharp opposition by Democrats. Our Housing mess started along time ago before the Bush administration took office in 2001. It started with the Carter Administration then finished up in the Clinton administration with folks like Obama, Maxine waters, Barney frank, and Chris Dodd. But now 2008 the Democrats want to blame President Bush and the Republicans for the mess we're in today. But Video doesn't lie, take 30 minutes of your time and review what really happen. Obama in a interview "stated this plan that the Clinton administration did by forcing the banks to buy risky loans for Low income people was good". Maxine waters stated we need 100% financing, that the Republicans and President bush was only trying to scare people.
What Financial Crisis !!!!!! This is being made up by Republicans statement made by Barney Frank.
In December 2003, Bush signed legislation implementing key provisions of his Healthy Forests Initiative. Another subject of controversy is Bush's Clear Skies Initiative, which seeks to reduce air pollution through expansion of emissions trading. Bush signed the Great Lakes Act of 2002 authorizing the federal government to begin cleaning up pollution and contaminated sediment in the Great Lakes, as well as the Brownfields Legistion in 2002, accelerating the cleanup of abandoned industrial sites, or brownfields, to better protect public health, create jobs, and revitalize communities.
On January 14, 2004, Bush announced a Vision for Space Exploration, calling for the completion of the International Space Station by 2010 and the retirement of the space shuttle while developing a new spacecraft called the Crew Exploration Vehicle under the title Project Constellation. The CEV would be used to return American astronauts to the Moon by 2018, with the objective of establishing a permanent lunar base, and eventually sending future manned missions to Mars.[20] To this end, the plan proposes that NASA's budget increase by five percent every year until it is capped at US$18 billion in 2008, with only inflationary increases thereafter.[21] The planned retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet in 2010 after the ISS is completed is also expected to free up US$5 billion to US$6 billion a year. The US$16.2 billion budget for 2005 proposed by NASA met with resistance from House and Senate spending committees, and the initiative was little-mentioned during the presidential campaign.[22] Nonetheless, the budget was approved with only minor changes shortly after the November elections.
According to a CNN exit poll, Bush's support from African-Americans increased during his presidency from 9% of the black vote in 2000 to 11% in 2004.[9] An increase in Ohio (from 9% to 16%,[9] each ± about 5%) may have helped give the victory to Bush over Kerry.
In Assassination attempt On May 10, 2005, Vladimir Arutyunian threw a live hand grenade toward a podium where Bush was speaking at Freedom Square in Tbilisi, Georgia. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili was seated nearby. It landed in the crowd about 65 feet (20 m) from the podium after hitting a girl, but it did not detonate. Arutyunian was arrested in July 2005, confessed, was convicted and was given a life sentence in January 2006.
In 2005-06, Bush emphasized the need for comprehensive energy reform and proposed increased funding for research and development of renewable sources of energy such as hydrogen power, nuclear power, ethanol, and clean coal technologies. Bush proposed the American Competitiveness Initiative which seeks to support increasing competitiveness of the U.S. economy, with greater development of advanced technologies, as well as greater education and support for American students. In the 2007 State of the Union speech, President Bush proposed a 20:10 policy, where as a nation, the United States would be working to reduce 20% of the national energy usage in next 10 years by converting to ethanol.
Bush staunchly opposes euthanasia. He supported Ashcroft's decision to file suit against the voter-approved Oregon Death with Dignity Act, which was ultimately decided by the Supreme Court in favor of the Oregon law.[73] As governor of Texas, however, Bush had signed a law which gave hospitals the authority to take terminally ill patients off of life support against the wishes of their spouse or parents, if the doctors deemed it medically appropriate.[74] This became an issue in 2005, when the President signed controversial legislation forwarded and voted on by only three members of the Senate to initiate federal intervention in the Terri Schiavo case.[75]
On June 15, 2006, Bush created the seventy-fifth, and largest, National Monument in U.S. history and the largest Marine Protected Area in the world with the formation of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument.[78]
Unemployment percentage, 2000–2005
During Bush's presidency, the U.S. population has risen by about three million people per year. Private employment (seasonally adjusted) originally decreased under Bush from 111,680,000 in December 2000 to 108,250,000 in mid-2003. The percentage drop in jobs was the largest since 1981-1983. The economy then added private jobs for 25 consecutive months from (July 2003 to August 2005), and the private employment seasonally adjusted numbers increased as of June 2005 when it reached 111,828,000. Considering population growth, that still represents a 4.6% decrease in employment since Bush took office. The administration and many economists have suggested that the growth in employment resulted from the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (JGTRRA), which President George W. Bush signed into law on May 27, 2003.[65]
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of unemployed was nearly 6.0 million in January 2001 and 6.9 million in September 2006. The unemployment rate was 4.2% in January 2001 and 4.6% in September 2006. Employment peaked in late 1999 and declined through 2003.[66]
Secured the Homeland
· Protected our Nation and prevented another attack on U.S. soil for more than seven years, modernized our national security institutions and tools of war, and bolstered our homeland security. Under the President's watch, numerous terrorist attacks have been prevented in the United States. These include:
o An attempt to bomb fuel tanks at JFK airport;
o A plot to blow up airliners bound for the East Coast;
o A plan to destroy the tallest skyscraper in Los Angeles;
o A plot by six al Qaeda inspired individuals to kill soldiers at Fort Dix Army Base in New Jersey;
o A plan to attack a Chicago-area shopping mall using grenades; and
o A plot to attack the Sears Tower in Chicago.
· Arrested and convicted more than two dozen terrorists and their supporters in America since 9/11.
· Froze the financial assets in the United States of hundreds of individuals and entities linked to terrorism and proliferation.
· Doubled the Border Patrol to more than 18,000 agents, equipped the Border Patrol with better technology and new infrastructure, and effectively ended the process of catch and release at the border. Increased border security and immigration enforcement funding by more than 160 percent and constructed hundreds of miles of fencing and vehicle barriers.
· Instituted a process to screen every commercial air passenger in the country, launched credentialing initiatives to better identify passengers, and expanded the Federal Air Marshal Program. Replaced the multiple watchlists that were in place prior to 9/11 with a single, consolidated watchlist, and incorporated biometrics in screening and identifying individuals entering our country. Created US-VISIT to screen foreign travelers and prevent terrorists from entering America. Required secure identification at our ports of entry to better monitor individuals entering the United States.
· Invested more than $38 billion in public health and medical systems, created a biothreat air monitoring system, and developed a national strategy and international partnership on avian and pandemic flu.
President Bush Fundamentally Reshaped Our Strategy To Protect The American People
"Because of ... the efforts of many across all levels of government, we have not suffered another attack on our soil since September the 11th, 2001."
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