goerge bush was a good president

Just before I start leave obama out of this, we are debating bush not obama. Refutation 1: EconomyThe last two years of his presidency were characterized by the worsening subprime mortgage crisis, which resulted in dramatic government intervention to bailout damaged financial institutions and a weakening economy. [1]So his last 2 years his economic policies stopped working. House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt said the middle class will not benefit enough from the tax cut and the wealthy will reap unfairly high benefits. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle argued that the tax cut is too large, too generous to the rich and too expensive. [1]Also the first tax cut cost $144.5 billion [1]And the tax cuts did little to the economy:The truth is that there is virtually no evidence in support of the Bush tax cuts as an economic elixir. To the extent that they had any positive effect on growth, it was very, very modest. [2]So the economy fixed itself on it's own. Free markets have a tendency to heal themselves over time. Refutation 2: The debtWe are debating GWB not obama. So a comparison isn't fair as obama has NOTHING to do with the resolution. I will expand this argument:But it is high time to remind the American public of Bush's policies that caused so much of the debt we are debating In his last term in office, Bush increased discretionary spending by 48.6 percent.130 current members of congress voted to increase the debt limit under Bush. [3]So a comparison isn't fair, let's stick to ONE PERSON and stay with the resolution. Adding obama is a red herring.Refutation 3: EducationPresident Bush's budget would cut money for education, the second straight time he has sought less school spending after a first term of steady increases.The Education Department would get $54.4 billion for discretionary spending in the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. That would amount to a cut of $3.7 billion, or 6.4 percent, from this year. [4]I find it funny I am getting this from fox news...A year ago, Bush proposed cutting the education budget by 1 percent, to $56 billion from $56.6 billion. Congress eventually approved a slight increase instead [4]He wanted cuts first term, but congress blocked it.Also when he called for education increases congress ignored him. Rendering him a weak leader with persuasion when it comes to Congress, a downside. Later he ACTUALLY succeeded in cutting education:Congress cut only five of the 48 programs Bush slated for elimination in last year's budget proposal. [5]So he didn't get all of what he wanted, but still he succeeded in a decrease in education. "At a time when expectations for states and school districts are at their highest under the No Child Left Behind Act, the President's investment in education is headed in the opposite direction," Jennings contended. [5]So his first policies = good, but later he made up for it by helping cut the funds. Conclusion:My opponent has not refuted my main arguments and made a red herring with the usage of obama. Also I belive I have done well in this debate, VOTE PRO. sources:http://en.wikipedia.org... [1]http://www.thefiscaltimes.com... [2]http://www.huffingtonpost.com... [3]http://www.foxnews.com... [4]http://www.stateline.org... [5]