Lies About the Welfare State,
Lies About the Warfare State
by Anthony Gregory
[email protected]

Exclusive to TLE

Many so-called conservatives today dismiss critics of the Bush Administration's foreign policy as partisan knee-jerk Bush-haters, whose alleged penchant for exaggerating the perils of the War on Terrorism deprives them of the restraint and credibility necessary for the functioning of productive political discourse.

Perhaps nothing is more simultaneously traitorous and juvenile, in the minds of these so-called conservatives, as calling the president a "liar." During the last administration, of course, these same folks would rarely think two seconds before confidently calling Bill Clinton a "liar." But in the Post-9/11 national security days, even many opponents of the Bush Administration will stop before using such a word, and will instead temper their language with such statements as "Bush mislead the American people."

On domestic matters, however, even some on the president's side of the isle will invoke a stronger nomenclature. According to Capitol Hill Blue, House Republicans say in private that Bush "lied through his teeth" about the actual costs of the monstrous Prescription Drug plan for senior citizen he recently signed into law, expanding the Federal Entitlement State more than any president since Lyndon Johnson in his attempts to bring about a "Great Society."

The newest projections indicate that the actual cost will be about 33% higher than the original $400 billion dollar estimate, and many conservatives are angry.

Some Republicans have spoken out openly, albeit with less intense language. Arizona Congressman John Shadegg said, "I'm not the least bit surprised.... Historically, our estimates of what these programs will cost have been so far off as to be meaningless."

So at a minimum, President Bush was more than $100 billion dollars off in his estimates about what will one day be seen as a watershed in the rise of the American Welfare State. Chances are, Politician Bush was lying when his lips were moving.

But what about the Warfare State? Chief U.S. weapons inspector David Kay recently stepped down, having not found the Weapons of Mass Destruction everyone was waiting for.

George Bush II said last March that "intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised."

On these weapons, David Kay said, "I don't think they existed."

Kay also said, "I think the best evidence is that they did not resume large-scale production [after the first Gulf War] and that's what we're really talking about."

This is on top of all the other matters the Administration was wrong about—from the mobile weapons units to the uranium from Africa to the chemical poison factories and more.

It would be one thing if Bush had been wrong in good faith, as David Kay presumes. But the president insisted that there was "no doubt" that Iraq had these weapons. His claims of certainty � even if he believed it was likely such weapons existed � were clearly dishonest.

Presidents and other politicians have lied about every war in American history. They have also lied about the likely costs and benefits of every major domestic program, from the War on Poverty to the War on Drugs, from Social Security to the Income Tax.

Even if they actually believe their own lies, they're still lying to themselves. How else can they believe a government program, foreign or domestic, will bring about the advertised results at the projected costs, when such programs never have? And why do so-called conservatives cut the president so much slack on the inaccuracies of his foreign policy predictions, even as they admit he's nothing but a dishonest, opportunist politician on domestic matters?

Bush's lies about the Welfare State will over the years mean the draining of hundreds of billions of dollars from a private sector already suffering the burdens of over-regulation and over-taxation. His lies about the Warfare state will do the same, in addition to lost lives of thousands of Americans and foreigners who have already died in his warfare.

That's traitorous. Calling Bush a liar is not.

Get a FREE e-gold account!

We have an e-gold account,
Account Number 105026.
It's a nifty idea!