Democrats Heap Praise on Bush’s Economic and Fiscal Policies

The Democrats have been praising the economic and fiscal policies of former President George W. Bush, albeit tacitly, especially during the 2012 presidential campaign.

First, the Democrats at their convention recently compared the “Obama recovery” to the “Bush recovery.”  They are thus making an acknowledgement that there even was a Bush recovery.  The recovery was from the economic down-turn that had begun during the Clinton Administration and that was exacerbated by the September 11 Attacks, which resulted in a short, mild recession.  The Democrats’ comparison is also an implication that there was a period of Bush prosperity, despite all the Democratic and liberal criticism of the economy and of the policies of President George W. Bush and the Republican Congress.  That admission had first come in 2008 when Democrats began citing economic statistics, describing the figures as the worst in several years, meaning that the period of several years beforehand was necessarily prosperous.

Second, United States Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged in the vice presidential debate with Republican nominee Rep. Paul Ryan that the Bush income tax cuts were for the middle class.  Instead of the usual liberal Democratic references only to the “middle class tax cuts,” as if they came from someone other than Bush, or Bush’s “tax cuts for the wealthiest,” as if Bush did not cut tax rates for all income taxpayers, the Vice President acknowledged Bush’s responsibility for the popular tax cuts he referred to as the “Bush middle class tax cuts.”  Obama has extended all of the Bush tax cuts – for both the middle class and the wealthy – in order to avoid harming the economy during this weak economic recovery. Apparently, liberal Democrats believe that tax cuts by Republicans cause recession, but cause recovery when Democrats extend them.

Meanwhile, since the presidential campaign in 2008, Barack Obama and other Democrats have complained that Bush and the Republican-led Congress increased Medicaid by implementing a prescription drug program without raising taxes to pay for the program.  Nevertheless, the Democrats are acknowledging that the Republicans expanded the program they have argued repeatedly Republicans wish to destroy.

Of course, the main Democratic praise has come not from words, but from Obama’s actions.  Not only did he extend the Bush tax cuts, he submitted two free trade agreements that Bush negotiated to the Senate for ratification, which the Democratic-majority Senate provided.  Additionally, one could argue that Obama’s deficit spending is a continuation of Bush’s, although Obama has increased it significantly.  Apparently, liberal Democrats believe that deficit spending by a Republican is harmful to the economy, but economically stimulative when they do it.  They have to believe it or else they have little foundation for the central premise of the 2012 campaign: that Bush’s policies caused the recession that the Obama Administration has been unable to recover from sufficiently and therefore, a return to office of Republicans and the implementation of fiscally conservative policies like reducing spending, borrowing and taxes would be unwise. 

In an upcoming post, I shall treat in more detail on the subject of how the liberal Democrats are wrong to blame Bush and the Republicans for the recession.