She asked three times about that. A call to the Houston phone number listed for the address shown in George W. Asked if George W. Questioned about whether this George W. Bush was related to Gov. George W. She said she would check into the DL number matter. O'Neill , opposed some of the tax cuts on the basis that they would contribute to budget deficits and undermine Social Security.
Between and , GDP grew at an average annual rate of 2. When Bush left office, the average was at 7,, one of the lowest levels of his presidency. Unemployment originally rose from 4. In December , the United States entered the longest post— World War II recession, [94] caused by a housing market correction , a subprime mortgage crisis , soaring oil prices , and a declining dollar value.
The Bush administration pushed for significantly increased regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in , [] and after two years, the regulations passed the House but died in the Senate.
Many Republican senators, as well as influential members of the Bush Administration, feared that the agency created by these regulations would merely be mimicking the private sector's risky practices. Many economists and world governments determined that the situation had become the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
Bush undertook a number of educational agendas, such as increasing the funding for the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health in his first years of office and creating education programs to strengthen the grounding in science and mathematics for American high school students.
Funding for the NIH was cut in , the first such cut in 36 years, due to rising inflation. One of the administration's early major initiatives was the No Child Left Behind Act , which aimed to measure and close the gap between rich and poor student performance, provide options to parents with students in low-performing schools, and target more federal funding to low-income schools.
This landmark education initiative passed with broad bipartisan support, including that of Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. In , he announced a National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza to prepare the United States for a flu pandemic, which culminated in an implementation plan published by the Homeland Security Council in It was to be funded by an increase in the cigarette tax.
The issue had been debated for 13 years before it finally became law. The measure is designed to protect citizens without hindering genetic research. Following Republican efforts to pass the Medicare Act of , Bush signed the bill, which included major changes to the Medicare program by providing beneficiaries with some assistance in paying for prescription drugs, while relying on private insurance for the delivery of benefits.
Bush began his second term by outlining a major initiative to " reform " Social Security, [] which was facing record deficit projections beginning in Bush made it the centerpiece of his domestic agenda despite opposition from some in the U.
Bush embarked on a day national tour, campaigning for his initiative in media events known as "Conversations on Social Security" in an attempt to gain public support. In May , Bush signed an executive order to create an interagency task force to streamline energy projects, [] and later signed two other executive orders to tackle environmental issues.
In , Bush announced the Clear Skies Act of , [] which aimed at amending the Clean Air Act to reduce air pollution through the use of emissions trading programs. Many experts argued that this legislation would have weakened the original legislation by allowing higher emission rates of pollutants than were previously legal.
Later in , Bush declared the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a national monument, creating the largest marine reserve to date. Bush has said he believes that global warming is real [] and has noted that it is a serious problem, but he asserted there is a "debate over whether it's man-made or naturally caused". Critics have alleged that the administration [] misinformed the public and did not do enough to reduce carbon emissions and deter global warming.
In his State of the Union Address , Bush declared, "America is addicted to oil" and announced his Advanced Energy Initiative to increase energy development research.
In his State of the Union Address , Bush renewed his pledge to work toward diminished reliance on foreign oil by reducing fossil fuel consumption and increasing alternative fuel production.
Bush said, "This means that the only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil reserves is action from the U. My administration has worked with Congress to invest in gas-saving technologies like advanced batteries and hydrogen fuel cells In the short run, the American economy will continue to rely largely on oil.
And that means we need to increase supply, especially here at home. So my administration has repeatedly called on Congress to expand domestic oil production. Federal funding for medical research involving the creation or destruction of human embryos through the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health has been forbidden by law since the passage of the Dickey-Wicker Amendment in However, Bush did not support embryonic stem cell research.
Testing can be done on only 12 of the original lines, and all approved lines have been cultured in contact with mouse cells, which creates safety issues that complicate development and approval of therapies from these lines. The bill would have repealed the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, thereby permitting federal money to be used for research where stem cells are derived from the destruction of an embryo.
Bush also urged Congress to provide additional funds for border security and committed to deploying 6, National Guard troops to the Mexico—United States border. Bush argued that the lack of legal status denies the protections of U. A heated public debate followed, which resulted in a substantial rift within the Republican Party, most conservatives opposed it because of its legalization or amnesty provisions.
On September 19, , former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that Bush offered to accept , Palestinian refugees as American citizens if a permanent settlement had been reached between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Hurricane Katrina struck early in Bush's second term and was one of the most damaging natural disasters in U. Katrina formed in late August during the Atlantic hurricane season and devastated much of the north-central Gulf Coast of the United States , particularly New Orleans.
Bush declared a state of emergency in Louisiana on August 27 [] and in Mississippi and Alabama the following day. As the disaster in New Orleans intensified, critics charged that Bush was misrepresenting his administration's role in what they saw as a flawed response.
Brown ; [] it was also argued that the federal response was limited as a result of the Iraq War [] and Bush himself did not act upon warnings of floods. During Bush's second term, a controversy arose over the Justice Department's midterm dismissal of seven United States Attorneys. Bush maintained that all his advisers were protected under a broad executive privilege protection to receive candid advice. The Justice Department determined that the President's order was legal. Attorney positions for political advantage, no official findings have been released.
On March 10, , the Congress filed a federal lawsuit to enforce their issued subpoenas. In all, twelve Justice Department officials resigned rather than testify under oath before Congress. In , the Justice Department investigator concluded that though political considerations did play a part in as many as four of the attorney firings, [] the firings were "inappropriately political", but not criminal. According to the prosecutors, there was insufficient evidence to pursue prosecution for any criminal offense.
During his presidential campaign, Bush's foreign policy platform included support for stronger economic and political relationship with Latin America , especially Mexico , and a reduction of involvement in " nation-building " and other small-scale military engagements. The administration pursued a national missile defense. After the September 11 attacks on New York, Bush launched the War on Terror, in which the United States military and a small international coalition invaded Afghanistan.
Bush began his second term with an emphasis on improving strained relations with European nations. He appointed long-time adviser Karen Hughes to oversee a global public relations campaign. Bush lauded the pro-democracy struggles in Georgia and Ukraine. In March , Bush reversed decades of U.
Midway through Bush's second term, questions arose whether Bush was retreating from his freedom and democracy agenda, which was highlighted in policy changes toward some oil-rich former Soviet republics in central Asia. In an address before both Houses of Congress on September 20, , Bush thanked the nations of the world for their support following the September 11 attacks.
The September 11 terrorist attacks were a major turning point in Bush's presidency. That evening, he addressed the nation from the Oval Office , promising a strong response to the attacks.
He also emphasized the need for the nation to come together and comfort the families of the victims. Three days after the attacks, Bush visited Ground Zero and met with Mayor Rudy Giuliani , firefighters, police officers, and volunteers. To much applause, Bush addressed the gathering via a megaphone while standing in a heap of rubble: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.
In a September 20 speech, Bush condemned Osama bin Laden and his organization Al-Qaeda , and issued an ultimatum to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, where bin Laden was operating, to "hand over the terrorists, or After September 11, Bush announced a global War on Terror.
The Afghan Taliban regime was not forthcoming with Osama bin Laden, so Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban regime. Dissent and criticism of Bush's leadership in the War on Terror increased as the war in Iraq continued.
On October 7, , U. The main goals of the war were to defeat the Taliban , drive al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan, and capture key al-Qaeda leaders. In December , the Pentagon reported that the Taliban had been defeated, [] but cautioned that the war would go on to continue weakening Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders. Efforts to kill or capture al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden failed as he escaped a battle in December in the mountainous region of Tora Bora , which the Bush Administration later acknowledged to have resulted from a failure to commit enough U.
Bin Laden's successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri , remains at large. Despite the initial success in driving the Taliban from power in Kabul, by early the Taliban was regrouping, amassing new funds and recruits.
Beginning with his January 29, State of the Union address, Bush began publicly focusing attention on Iraq, which he labeled as part of an " axis of evil " allied with terrorists and posing "a grave and growing danger" to U. In the latter half of , CIA reports contained assertions of Saddam Hussein 's intent of reconstituting nuclear weapons programs, not properly accounting for Iraqi biological and chemical weapons , and that some Iraqi missiles had a range greater than allowed by the UN sanctions.
In late and early , Bush urged the United Nations to enforce Iraqi disarmament mandates, precipitating a diplomatic crisis. More than 20 nations most notably the United Kingdom , designated the " coalition of the willing " joined the United States [] in invading Iraq.
They launched the invasion on March 20, The Iraqi military was quickly defeated. The capital, Baghdad , fell on April 9, On May 1, Bush declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq. The initial success of U. The report of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group , led by James Baker , concluded that the situation in Iraq was "grave and deteriorating". While Bush admitted there were strategic mistakes made in regards to the stability of Iraq, [] he maintained he would not change the overall Iraq strategy.
In January , free, democratic elections were held in Iraq for the first time in 50 years. A referendum to approve a constitution in Iraq was held in October , supported by most Shiites and many Kurds. In March , Bush praised the Iraqi government's "bold decision" to launch the Battle of Basra against the Mahdi Army , calling it "a defining moment in the history of a free Iraq". He also praised the Iraqis' legislative achievements, including a pension law, a revised de-Baathification law, a new budget, an amnesty law, and a provincial powers measure that, he said, set the stage for the Iraqi elections.
In March , Center for Public Integrity released a report that President Bush's administration had made more than false pretenses in a two-year period about alleged threat of Iraq against the United States, as his rationale to engage war in Iraq. Ferencz has suggested that Bush should be tried in the International Criminal Court for ' war crime charges' related to the Iraq War. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, Bush issued an executive order that authorized the President's Surveillance Program.
The new directive allowed the National Security Agency to monitor communications between suspected terrorists outside the U. Senate leaders that the program would not be reauthorized by the President, but would be subjected to judicial oversight.
Bush authorized the CIA to use waterboarding and several other " enhanced interrogation techniques " that several critics, including Barack Obama, would label as torture. Army Field Manuals which assert "that harsh interrogation tactics elicit unreliable information", [] the Bush administration believed these enhanced interrogations "provided critical information" to preserve American lives.
Rumsfeld , U. The law also denied the detainees access to habeas corpus and barred the torture of prisoners. The provision of the law allowed the president to determine what constitutes "torture". On March 8, , Bush vetoed H.
Bush publicly condemned Kim Jong-il of North Korea and identified North Korea as one of three states in an " axis of evil ". He said that "the United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons.
This was a result of a series of three-way talks initiated by the United States and including China. On June 22, , "While South Korea prospers, the people of North Korea have suffered profoundly," he said, adding that communism had resulted in dire poverty, mass starvation and brutal suppression. Bush expanded economic sanctions on Syria.
Bush's order prohibits Americans from doing business with these institutions suspected of helping spread weapons of mass destruction [] and being supportive of terrorism. On May 10, , Vladimir Arutyunian , a native Georgian who was born to a family of ethnic Armenians , threw a live hand grenade toward a podium where Bush was speaking at Freedom Square in Tbilisi, Georgia. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was seated nearby.
Arutyunian was arrested in July , confessed, was convicted and was given a life sentence in January Bush withdrew U. Bush emphasized a careful approach to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians; he denounced Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat for his support of violence, but sponsored dialogues between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Bush supported Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan, and lauded the democratic elections held in Palestine after Arafat's death.
Bush also expressed U. From to , Bush authorized U. Bush condemned the militia attacks Darfur and denounced the killings in Sudan as genocide. Departing from previous practice, he stood among a group of U. Bush twice invoked Section 3 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment , which allows a president to temporarily transfer the powers and duties of his office to the vice president, who then becomes acting president. EDT after the president's doctor, Richard Tubb , conducted an overall examination.
Tubb said he recommended the additional time to make sure the sedative had no after effects. Roberts was confirmed by the Senate as the 17th Chief Justice on September 29, After facing significant opposition from both parties, who found her to be ill-prepared and uninformed on the law, [] : Miers asked that her name be withdrawn on October Four days later, on October 31, Bush nominated federal appellate judge Samuel Alito.
Alito was confirmed as the th Supreme Court Justice on January 31, In addition to his two Supreme Court appointments, Bush appointed 61 judges to the United States courts of appeals and judges to the United States district courts. Each of these numbers, along with his total of judicial appointments, is third in American history, behind both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Bush experienced a number of judicial appointment controversies.
Debate during one confirmation session lasted "39 stupefying hours" according to The New York Times. On August 3, , the Senate did not consent to keep existing nominations in status quo , returning 40 judicial nominations, and total nominations. At the outset, Judicature magazine noted that the "Senate Democrats were gearing up for the approaching confirmation hearings" before the first set of nominees were sent to the Senate. Bush's judicial nominees and will subject them to intense scrutiny.
The Senate had confirmed only eight of Bush's 60 judicial nominations by October In February , the Democrats successfully filibustered the nomination of Miguel Estrada. Bush's upbringing in West Texas , his accent, his vacations on his Texas ranch, and his penchant for country metaphors contribute to his folksy, American cowboy image. Bush has been parodied by the media, [] comedians, and other politicians. In contrast to his father—who was perceived as having troubles with an overarching unifying theme—Bush embraced larger visions and was seen as a man of larger ideas and associated huge risks.
Tony Blair wrote in that the caricature of Bush as being dumb is "ludicrous" and that Bush is "very smart". He doesn't want anybody to think he's smarter than they are, so puts on a Texas act.
In and again in , Time magazine named George W. Bush as its Person of the Year , a title awarded to someone who the editors believe "has done the most to influence the events of the year". Within the United States armed forces, according to an unscientific survey, the president was strongly supported in the presidential elections. After his re-election in , Bush received increasingly heated criticism from across the political spectrum [4] [5] [] for his handling of the Iraq War , his response to Hurricane Katrina , [6] [7] [] and to the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse , NSA warrantless surveillance , the Plame affair , and Guantanamo Bay detention camp controversies.
I frankly don't give a damn about the polls. There were calls for Bush's impeachment , though most polls showed a plurality of Americans would not support such an action. Bush was criticized internationally and targeted by the global anti-war and anti-globalization movements for his administration's foreign policy.
Bush was described as having especially close personal relationships with Tony Blair of the United Kingdom and Vicente Fox of Mexico, although formal relations were sometimes strained. Later in Bush's presidency, tensions arose between him and Vladimir Putin , which led to a cooling of their relationship. In , most respondents in 18 of 21 countries surveyed around the world were found to hold an unfavorable opinion of Bush. Respondents indicated that they judged his administration as negative for world security.
During a June visit to the predominantly Muslim [] Albania , Bush was greeted enthusiastically. Albania has a population of 2.
In , the Tbilisi City Council voted to rename a street in honor of the U. Two elementary schools are named after him: George W. Paul, Texas , in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Following the inauguration of Barack Obama , Bush and his family flew from Andrews Air Force Base to a homecoming celebration in Midland, Texas , following which they returned to their ranch in Crawford, Texas.
On August 6, , Bush was successfully treated for a coronary artery blockage with a stent. The blockage had been found during an annual medical examination. In reaction to the shooting of Dallas police officers , Bush stated: "Laura and I are heartbroken by the heinous acts of violence in our city last night. Murdering the innocent is always evil, never more so than when the lives taken belong to those who protect our families and communities.
Since leaving office, Bush has kept a relatively low profile [] though he has made public appearances, most notably after the release of his memoirs in and for the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks in In March , he delivered his first post-presidency speech in Calgary , Alberta, [] [] appeared via video on The Colbert Report during which he praised U. The album's musical style contains elements of punk rock, reggae, and ska, as well as dancehall, hip hop, and dub music, with tempos ranging wildly.
Nowell's lyrical subject matter relates to relationships, prostitution, riots, and addiction. The Sound of My Addiction. Stick Figure. Dub Side Of The Moon. Easy Star All-Stars. King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown. King Tubby. Pablo produced the album and played melodica, piano, organ and clavinet. How much again? Oh well, a lot Gotta see what Dickie is up to, he was asking if he could borrow some money from me.
Sure, why not? I know he will pay me back. Lord, I don't know what to do anymore. How to get some positive attention? Who has been getting a lot of attention lately? Heck yeah, that Palin woman. Maybe I can be more like a hockey mom. How do you do that? Filter by. All reviewers Verified purchase only All reviewers. All stars 5 star only 4 star only 3 star only 2 star only 1 star only All positive All critical All stars.
Text, image, video Image and video reviews only Text, image, video. Showing of 5 reviews. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. Verified Purchase. That will always be my favorite album. They went more and more metal, and then sludge metal. It was not my favorite era of the band. I liked the guitar mixed with heavy industrial beats and sampling, not this much more metalized, barely industrial sound. It took me a while to get the anti-Bush trilogy, which had its moments.
Did you ever realize that the first letter of war is Dubya! George W. He even succeeded in putting America in a huge debt.
Way to go , Dubya! Noun- One who practically destroys the stockmarket , fights illegal wars , or turns America from a prospering country to millions of dollars in debt.
And by the way, doesn’t Texas require renewal of a driver’s license every four years on one’s birthday? Did George Dubya have something in his past to hide to cause him to purge the old record and number? This seems especially confusing since his birthday is July 6, , but he obtained his new number on March 31, as a renewal.