George W. Bush

[Prometheus]

The guys who make Ben and Jerries ice cream met with some government officials to try to convince them to cut back on our military budget. Compared to other nations, our budget for this is huge. It would be a great place to start trimming. From your chart, it also looks like Health and Human services are taking a big chunk of what's being spent. I think at least some of this money could be out to better use. I've seen first hand how government handouts fail to have their desired effects. Makes me sick to see how much is being spent on things which to some extent encourage people to be unproductive and how little by comparison is being spent on education and economical development.

I think more state funding for college level education(Even technical degrees) would do wonders for us down the road. Also more into pre college level education. I'm sure you've all seen how poorly funded our schools are.

Nice graph

[ablprop]

I don't know a lot about a lot. But I know that No Child Left Behind is just one part of a horrendous trend in education. Here's what education is:

1) Hmmm, there are things we can do to help people (in kid form) learn about the world. Let's do those things.
2) OK, now we're doing those things. Maybe we should find some way of measuring whether or not we're successful?
3) Uh, oh, our tests show we're not as successful as we would like.
4) Let's change the way we help people (in kid form) learn about the world so that they do better on our tests.
5) Uh, oh, things are getting worse. Turns out people (in kid form) don't really care about our tests.
6) Let's reward people (in kid form) for doing well on our tests and punish them for doing poorly.
7) Great, now we've got a system. We've changed the way we teach people (in kid form) about the world so that they do better on tests, and when they do well, we say they're educated. When they do poorly, we say they're not. Now what were we trying to do again?

NCLB isn't the only culprit in this long, slow death march from teaching to churning, but it was the last and most important force driving us in that direction.

[DropLogic]

The guys who make Ben and Jerries ice cream met with some government officials to try to convince them to cut back on our military budget. Compared to other nations, our budget for this is huge. It would be a great place to start trimming. From your chart, it also looks like Health and Human services are taking a big chunk of what's being spent. I think at least some of this money could be out to better use. I've seen first hand how government handouts fail to have their desired effects. Makes me sick to see how much is being spent on things which to some extent encourage people to be unproductive and how little by comparison is being spent on education and economical development.

I think more state funding for college level education(Even technical degrees) would do wonders for us down the road. Also more into pre college level education. I'm sure you've all seen how poorly funded our schools are.

Nice graph

why would the gov listen to two ridiculously successful gay men?  Don't ask don't tell ok?

You know what else is grossly disproportionate to the global average?  Executive pay.  And when I say gross, I mean hundreds of %.  We have Reagan to thank for that.

[jduster]

Everyone always spouts off about unnecessary spending.  Does anyone actually know where all their tax dollars go?
http://www.federalbudget.com/

Department of Defense: $900 billion
Department of Education: $90 billion

Anyone see a problem here?

Yes, I do see a problem.  The DOD budget is a little over $700b, not $900b.

This only includes the federal budgets; not the state budgets.

Defense is mostly funded on a federal level, whereas education is mostly funded on a state level.

Your argument can mislead some into thinking that defense costs ten times as much as education, when education spending overall is higher.

[The Magic Pudding]

Your argument can mislead some into thinking that defense costs ten times as much as education, when education spending overall is higher.

Very true you can't be careful, look at any map, Canada is there to the North and hence has the advantage of high ground.
Remember what happened to Anikan Sky Walker when Obi One, a weaker Jedi had the high ground.

I've heard someone say words to the effect of; they look forward to a time when the local pre school is fully funded, and the army has to hold a cake stall to buy a tank.

[DropLogic]

Everyone always spouts off about unnecessary spending.  Does anyone actually know where all their tax dollars go?
http://www.federalbudget.com/

Department of Defense: $900 billion
Department of Education: $90 billion

Anyone see a problem here?

Yes, I do see a problem.  The DOD budget is a little over $700b, not $900b.

This only includes the federal budgets; not the state budgets.

Defense is mostly funded on a federal level, whereas education is mostly funded on a state level.

Your argument can mislead some into thinking that defense costs ten times as much as education, when education spending overall is higher.

You are right about that.  Didn't consider the difference in state and federal.  However...Doesn't that beg the question of why our education system is still failing horribly?

[jduster]

Bought myself a new book!

[Asmodean]

1.  The disarmament of Libya and North Korea.

...Is a dream beyond the rainbow, short of a full scale, possibly nuclear war.

2.  Keeping the country safe from terrorism pragmatically (waterboarding, DHLS, patriot act)

...Wouldn't stop a somewhat determined terrorist. You don't really believe the USA is significantly safer because of Bush's actions, do you? How many real allies do you think the USA has in the wake of Bush regime?

3.  Improving relations with numerous countries around the world (such as Israel, Britain, Australia)

Really? In my part of the world, the general opinion of the US went from so-so to the crapper during his time in the office and it pretty much still IS in the crapper. And my part of the world is a big part of NATO, for instance.

4.  A strong federal response to the financial meltdown which limited the pervasiveness of the damage.
5.  His understanding that Social Security was on an unsustainable path and needed reforms.
6.  He actually proposed strong regulation of mortgage industry back in 2003, but were never passed.

No opinion here.

7.  The War In Iraq will give democracy and freedom to 30,000,000 people and their posterity.

Well, woo-effing-hoo. Maybe Iraq is not better off with a democrtatic rule? doesn't suit all countries too well, especially where education is spotty at best. There are other examples, but still. Don't spread freedom and democracy unless you are invited to do so. Leave the shoving of your values down others' throats to the preachers.

8.  The War In Afghanistan will give democracy and freedom to 20,000,000 people and their posterity.

According to some analysts, it won't. Me, I think those analysts have a point.

9.  He implemented domestic initiatives such as No Child Left Behind and Part D for Medicare.
10.  He implemented a vast program to fight AIDs and other diseases in third world countries.

Again, no opinion, except that AIDS is not the greatest threat in the world today. On my list of priorities, it would be a minor annoyance at best.

Bush has been victim to libel and asinine conspiracy theories.  He was not an elegant speaker, but he is certainly not low IQ as the media tries to portray him.  One thing I admire about Bush was that he never tried to chase popular opinion polls, and that he was a farsighted man.  Yes, right now, this country is in bad shape, but he has laid the groundwork, in the long-term, for a better world.

On the other hand, if the world doesn't want to be saved by his methods, it will not be, and all his efforts will ultimately only have led to his own country being a husk of its former self to an outside observer. I think Bush might have assumed one time too many, that people all around the world ultimately want what he wants. Uh... Not really, no. Ethnocentricity will only get you so far.