VA GOP Candidate Praises Bush: I Want His Economic Record

The legacy of George W. Bush has weighed heavily on the Republican Party, casting a large shadow over GOP candidates in the past two national elections.

But is that toxicity beginning to wane? For the first time in recent memory, a Republican candidate is actively embracing the tenure of George W. Bush, citing the economic growth up through 2006 as a template of governance he'd like to pursue.

On Saturday, former Virginia Attorney General and current gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell delivered the following remarks at the Boys State Convention in Lynchburg, Virginia.

"President Bush put in a ten-year tax-cut on everything from the death tax to capital gains tax and it was followed by an unprecedented period of economic recovery and economic growth," he said. "In fact, it almost overheated the economy through about 2006. So, I think that's the way you stimulate business. And that's the kind of governor that I'm going to be to reduce those impediments to entrepreneurship, to let small businesses grow and thrive and create some opportunity."

To be fair, it is hard to draw a larger trend from one snippet of one speech of one candidate for what is still considered a Republican state (though increasingly a political toss-up). Additionally, McDonnell has praised Bush in the past. But as the economic environment becomes increasingly owned by the Obama administration it will be curious to see not just how frequently Republicans whack the president on this front, but how willing they are to tie themselves to the early Bush years. Will McDonnell be the exception or the norm?

Comments

[mouselion]

Yes, please. Run on Bush's economic record.

[AngusC]

OMG, who would actually say that?
Did he just wake up from a 10 year coma or something.
Bush would not even say that.
If VA puts their faith in this guy they deserve what they get.

[We-Are-The-Ones]

I sure hope Virginia keeps this guy out of office. After all, after 2006 and Bush's policy, we now have the worse economic downturn since the 1930s.

This guy is insane if he is only noting what happened up to 2006. He is dangerously stupid.

[tomasedison]

Everybody in the GOP should set their sights low - and King George is the perfect choice for them - quite easily attainable.

[padrushka]

can you spell deficit?? at first i thought this article was a snl spoof..

[SSF]

McDonnell seems to be another Republican wanna-be who is living proof that lack of intelligence is no hinderance to pursuit of ambition..­.

[nellie]

fanned

[the964kid]

Is this guy trying to lose?

[sekigahara]

Ya know, the Navy did a great job at Pearl Harbor - they sunk that midget sub and all.

Sure, the economy heated up - rich got richer, the poor got poorer, people working longer hours, often for less pay, many in service industries, less in manufacturing much of which was relocating to overseas, middle class shrinking.­..bubbles in housing and the stock market swelling..­.

I suppose if an administration can cherry-pick its pre-war intelligence, it comes as no surprise that other members of the administration's party while seeking some semblance of a coat-tail to grab onto determine to cherry-pick a single and dubious part of a larger whole. Amateurs.

[cuchulain]

Excellent comparison chart:

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/01/23/business/20090124_CHARTS_GRAPHIC.html

Bush has the worst economic record of any president since Hoover.

Job creation is a huge indicator. Bush's total? 1.45 million in eight years.

And those tax cuts? Tax receipts DECLINED for four out of eight years under Bush. Conservatives love to peddle the lie that tax cuts not only pay for themselves (they don't come close), they supposedly bring in more revenue.

Ha ha ha he he he . . .

And debt? He doubled the national debt to nearly 11 trillion, and handed Obama a current accounts deficit of more than 1.2 trillion dollars.

I hope Creigh Deeds quotes McDonnell throughout the campaign for governor.

[HPfanRJ]

Your chart illustrates just how wonderful our republican presidents have been at making our economy thrive - in every case they grasp an economy restored by a preceding democratic president by the throat, and do their very best to smother it - all while burning capital like an internet start up. The widely held belief that republican administrations are good for the economy is clearly complete fantasy and PR genius. How nany times does this clear pattern have to be experienced by us all before we begin to "get it"? The figures for Ronnie Rayguns are particularly illuminating. I've always believed that his drum beat for deregulation was the beginning of our collective end if nothing is done to reverse that toxic belief.

[ThermoChemist]

I've posted similar info in the recent past (ie. Dems/Repubs and the Economy):

While statistics show that the Economy does BETTER under DEMOCRATIC leadership and worse under Republican leadership, conservatives brag about belonging to the party of 'fiscal responsibi­lity.' Bush came into the White House with a budget surplus and turned into one of the biggest deficits ever. Want more of that Conservatism?

Statistically speaking, the economy does better under Dem Presidents than Repubs. The stock market does far BETTER UNDER DEMOCRATS. This finding is examined by two finance professors at the University of California, Pedro Santa-Clara and Rossen Valkanov, in an article published in The Journal of Finance.

Looking at data between 1927 and 1998, they find that during those years the stock market returned about 11 percent MORE a year UNDER DEMOCRATIC presidents and 2 percent more under Republicans. There is NO proof that Republican Presidents are better for the U.S. economy than Democratic Presidents.

Indeed, data indicates the opposite. [so, vote Democratic if you want a better chance of an improved Economy]

http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~hal/people/hal/NYTimes/2003-11-20.html
http://www.eriposte.com/economy/other/demovsrep.htm

[BrickSykes]

Yeah. Newsweek has a piece "Reagan Was Wrong" which should be required reading for today's political junkies. And you know what? Reagan WAS Wrong!

Brick

[Whinger]

Delusional stuff!

[DMSmith]

He's not capable of learning. He lives in a world of ideology and sees things only through that lens.

That is why the Republican party has been so dangerous and injurious to our country - they base everything they do on ideology - a failed one at that. The reality and truth of the situation are not ever considered because they 'know' better. Their ideology told them so.

How nice for them.

[metricfan]

He's doing more than pandering to the hxc GOP voters, he's flat out lying to a bunch of high school boys that likely know about as much econ as that clown!

[WhatDaBleep]

See - Proof that people do not learn from history - oh, that's right - he has to be educated to learn from something! I wonder who this guy is banging? Just wait a couple weeks and we will find out.

[TomTheAlmostUgly]

There's no "deeper meaning" here, the clown's just appealing to his hard Republican base, who (how shall I put this?) aren't experts at economics.

[research]

He's just kissing up to the bankers.