John Tamny on Bush's Abysmal Economic Interventions

NOBODY SAYS IT BETTER:

"President George W. Bush, a Republican, has overseen a massive increase in the size and scope of government on his watch, and did so in conjunction with a collapsing dollar that has surely marginalized by now any of the gains enjoyed from the tax cuts he signed into law in 2003.

"Still, if any of us had been secluded for the past seven years, a description of the Bush years without attribution would likely have had most any Republican assuming a Democrat had been in control. Is there an explanation for this?

"The first one would be that all politicians disappoint. By definition. Beyond that, given the statist direction taken by the Republican party in this decade, it’s fair to ask if it any longer represents laissez-faire growth. Many would point to the even harsher anti-growth views held by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but it seems a lot of their stances at present are pure politics.

"Even if they’re not, it would be hard to find an administration in modern times that has been more interventionist than the present one. That in mind, stinging losses for the GOP may be just what the doctor ordered. Indeed, maybe the pain of being out of power will force them to look inward, and in doing so, perhaps understand that when a Democrat runs against a Democrat, a Democrat always wins. "

"There's no doubt about it: President George W. Bush, whom I voted for twice, has spent money like a drunken sailor and furthered the nanny state---especially now in the arena of the economy---like never before. It will all come back to haunt us. Quick fixes never work in the long run. Nor do bigger and bigger government regulations that weigh down the system.

Read the whole thing by Tamny, and weep.