Post-RNC convention thoughts

I just wanted to point out an excellent article by Lawrence Kaplan that appeared in The New Republic yesterday, read it here. His basic argument is that Bush's foreign policy is really a "liberal" foreign policy whereas Kerry has reverted to an conservative, isolationist philosophy of protection of "key assets" in the world. Fascinating argument and well-reasoned.

The one thing that I disagree with is his very brief comment on Bush's treatment of domestic issues in his RNC nomination acceptance speech. His comment is that "...the president is essentially a troglodyte when it comes to matters social and economic." I am incredulous every time I hear liberal commentators discussing Bush's domestic treatment. Every liberal that pans Bush's economic policies exposes their own dreadful lack of economic understanding. The only reason that our economy is growing now is the Bush tax cuts of the past 2 years, especially those that provide incentives for investment and growth. Even if they don't have an education in economics, they could at least believe the words of Alan Greenspan, who has repeatedly given his support for tax cuts. It seems that I recently read an article which quoted Greenspan specifically crediting the current economic growth to the tax cuts, but I don't seem to be able to find it again.

Second, Bush has drawn the ire of many in his own policy for departing from standard conservative treatment of domestic issues: pairing with Ted Kennedy to write the education bill, pairing with Daschle to write the Farm Bill, enacting Steel Tariffs (that he should not have), and co-opting the Democrat's desire to create a Medicare prescription drug benefit. They whine and moan that it's a sop to drug companies, but the brutal truth is that he managed to get one created and drug companies would benefit from any reasonable plan that would provide prescription drug coverage for seniors.

Those who criticize the Bush domestic agenda can not provide any solid "proof" of their complaints, instead whining about "tax cuts for the rich" and "corporate co-option of government" and other subjective, unobservable allegations. Their complaints come only from ideological motivation and often belie their unwillingness to acknowledge any good in an opponent.