Between the Bushes

by Peter Saint-Andre

2003-04-20

Not long ago, I saw a bumper sticker that read: "Clinton. The guy who did it between the bushes." I know people who are pretty much party-line Republicans, and who loathed Clinton for his moral failings. While by no means am I a party-line Democrat -- they've strayed too far from Jeffersonian principles for that -- I've always said that I prefer a president who screws interns to one who screws the country. Unfortunately, George III and his Republican majorities seem to be doing a bang-up job of the latter. As noted in this analysis by Veronique de Rugy, the Clinton years saw passage of welfare reform, founding of the North American Free Trade Agreement, deregulation in the areas of agriculture, telecommunications, and financial services, and benign neglect of the Internet. By contrast, she notes that "in less than two years, President Bush has presided over more government expansion than took place during eight years of Bill Clinton", including wrong-headed policies in the areas of education, farming, commerce, and health care. And that doesn't even count the rapid erosion of civil liberties foisted upon American citizens in the name of "homeland security". It's enough to make me doubt the viability even of an innovative idea like the Free State Project and to contemplate moving to New Zealand -- at least they have a free economy, a peaceful foreign policy, respect for civil liberties, and a burgeoning libertarian movement.


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