Conservative Leader Questions Bush's Fiscal Conservatism -- GOPUSA

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Conservative Leader Questions Bush's Fiscal Conservatism
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Senior Editor
February 1, 2006

(CNSNews.com) -- Reaction to President Bush's State of the Union address was swift, sure, and mostly partisan in nature.

Democrats made the point that they could do a better job, if voters give them a chance. Republicans said President Bush's blueprint will improve the lives of Americans. And a leading conservative expressed doubt that President Bush -- "the biggest spender in American history" -- has turned into a fiscal conservative.

"The president had some good things to say about spending, taxes, and immigration, but conservatives have heard that song before," said Richard A. Viguerie, chairman of ConservativeHQ.com and co-author of "America's Right Turn."

Viguerie said most conservatives feel that President Bush and Republican leaders have betrayed the conservative revolution they promised.

Viguerie mentioned the ballooning and "unsustainable" national debt, stemming from "legal theft" such as pork barrel spending; the new prescription drug program; agriculture subsidies, and so on.

And Viguerie criticized the president's conservative rhetoric regarding illegal immigration at the same time he's advocating a "guest worker amnesty program."

"Conservatives are not fooled," Viguerie said. He noted that the results of a January 30, 2006 ConservativeHQ.com poll of more than 1,000 conservative activists found that 65 percent think President Bush is not governing as a conservative; 64 percent give him either a D or F grade on government spending; and 70 percent give him a D or F on immigration.

"And historically, when conservatives are unhappy, Republicans pay a big price on election day and today, many conservatives feel angry and betrayed," Viguerie warned.

"Conservatives hope and pray that a born-again Conservative George W. Bush has emerged [Tuesday night]. However, based on his record during the last five years, we need more than rhetoric," Viguerie concluded.

Democrat reaction

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, who is supposed to make Democrats the majority party once again, criticized what he called President Bush's "waning credibility and his failure to lay out a positive agenda for the nation."

Dean accused President Bush of trying to scare Americans and use issues to "divide us."

Dean said the Bush administration is offering only "lip service" on energy independence, and he dredged up the old Democratic complaint that President Bush "let the energy industry write the proposals for Vice President Cheney's energy task force."

Dean said President Bush's words "hailing the bravery and heroism of our troops would be more sincere, if only it was matched by real action to keep them safe and a real plan for success in Iraq." Dean said U.S. troops need more body armor and better intelligence to get the job done.

He accused the Bush administration of making a "mess" of Iraq, and letting North Korea and Iran develop nuclear weapons "while leaving our own country vulnerable to natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina."

Dean said millions more Americans are now uninsured since Bush gave his first State of the Union address five years ago. He said Bush's health care proposal is a sop for "special interests."

But House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) praised President Bush for laying out a "clear blueprint that will grow the economy and create jobs, protect Americans from terrorism and give families the tools they need to care for their children and build better lives."

Hastert promised that House Republicans are "taking bold and aggressive steps" to curb federal spending, reduce the deficit, make tax cuts permanent, and "continue America's strong economic growth."

"This week, we plan to extend the PATRIOT Act and finalize work on the Deficit Reduction Act," Hastert said. "And we are moving swiftly on lobbying reform because we know that a democracy that loses the trust of its people will not prosper."