Bush deserves kudos for his stalwart defense of the nation at a time of peril. He had to increase spending in order to prosecute a necessary war in Iraq. A war that has resulted in the establishment of a new, democratic country in the Arab world which by its mere existence will continue to put pressure on the older more oppressive regimes like Saudi Arabia and Iran to democratize their political systems and hopefully join the first world. This is GW's legacy.

It is also a fact that he increased spending: No Child Left Behind, Medicare Prescriptions Subsidy, and AIDS are just three examples. The money allocated for these programs were excessive. The proof for this assertion is that a majority of Democrats, led by no less a liberal than Ted Kennedy, supported him with these efforts.  And then of course they criticized him for it later when it suited their political agenda.

However I think that although GW did cut taxes, which was good, and he did try to privatize Social Security, he erroneous fell for the notion that there were institutions too big to fail. In my opinion he was wrong to go along with the AIG bailout and the increases in the M1. He started us down the path of economic failure that the Obama administration is continuing, only bigger and faster.

Obama continues to blame Bush for failed economic policies when these policies were supported by the majority of Democrats in the 2006 Congress and are the same policies he continues to advocate and implement today: bailouts and stimulus packages. Obama’s only deviation from his predecessor that he delights in ridiculing is that he also seeks to increase taxes and increase regulation.

So now not only will his Government continue to soak up the much needed capital available for new businesses and existing business's growth and expansion, he is now going to suck the life out of them by imposing higher taxes and regulation. This will lead irrevocably to higher unemployment and a reduction in economic prosperity.

How is the Government going to pay for his new multi-trillion dollar health care program when there are fewer employees and less business profits from which the Government can acquire revenue? At least under Bush the golden goose of business was  robbed, but he was not killed.

Letting the treasury print money at will is a stealth tax. It devalues the money you have in your pocket and has the same effect as a tax. And it’s much worse than a tax, because it is done without a vote from Congress one way or the other. It's like taxation without representation. But why be surprised at that? Isn’t that what statist do?