Bush deserves recognition for compassion

The libertarian/capitalist wing of the Republican Party has been
furious with President Bush and his policies. Pat Buchanan wrote an
anti-Bush book, and in a Los Angeles Times article, former Reagan
staff members and advisers denigrated his policies in favor of
aiding the impoverished overbalanced budgets.

They hated when he signed a bill that added prescription drug
coverage to Medicare, a huge boost to people who can’t afford
high prescription drug prices. It also, however, added further
burden on the budget. Fiscal conservatives cannot stand this
president and the towering budget deficits that have evolved over
his presidency. A significant proportion of the deficit can be
attributed to war. However, the president’s compassion is a
major factor as well.

In his 2006 budget, Bush allotted $368 billion to the poor in
different forms of entitlements; a record, according to Bill
O’Reilly. President Clinton, at the same point in his
presidency, allotted $191 billion (half of what Bush
administered).

It seems conservatives don’t like Bush because he helps
the poor and minorities and yet liberals don’t like him
because he doesn’t care about the poor and minorities.
Confused?

In May of 2003, comprehensive tax cuts were enacted in Congress,
a factor in budget deficits. Since then, however, the country has
gained about 4 million jobs, many of them in lower-income
communities. Furthermore, the president restructured the federal
income tax brackets so several million of the nation’s lowest
wage workers no longer had to pay taxes. That is real money in real
people’s pockets.

The president, the first one in history to hold an MBA, runs the
country like a business. He surveys the size of the country’s
wealth and assets and realizes a deficit is not a major detriment.
Rather, the president’s deficits are an investment in the
American people, and already they are paying dividends. A few
months ago it was announced that projected deficits had been
reduced by about $100 billion thanks to increased revenue provided
by the jobs the president had created. By the end of the
president’s term, as spending in Iraq declines and the
economy continues to grow, we will further witness dividends on the
president’s investments and further budget deficit
reductions.

The president, while receiving no credit, has achieved further
dividends as well. For instance, the majority of minorities own
homes. This comes as a direct result of many of the polices put in
place by the president, including a $200 million-a-year act to help
lower-income families with down payments. The president also
created a Compassion Capital Fund, in which millions of dollars
have been given to charities to aid the poor. No president has ever
funded charities in the magnitude of this president. Last year, he
put $45 million into the fund for mentoring at-risk children in
low-income areas.

It’s also important to note that the poverty rate right
now is 12.7 percent. At this point in Clinton’s presidency,
the poverty rate was a full percentage point higher at 13.7
percent. What’s interesting, though, is that the
president’s poverty rate has increased the last few years
because non-Hispanic whites have gotten poorer. Hispanics and
African Americans, the people the president supposedly cares
nothing about, have increased their incomes at the national
level.

It is important to remember the inspiration for these policies.
It is the often-despised Christian faith of the president that
drives “compassionate conservatism.” Indeed, the
president is the most sincerely devout Christian president since
Jimmy Carter. I hope President Bush will be remembered for what he
has done, budget deficits and all.

Brown is a member of Bruin Republicans and a fourth-year
political science student.