9/11 Changed Views Of Government
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
If I ran into W on the street, I would ask him one question.
Who are you and what have you done with George W. Bush?
I mean, really, what in the world has happened to W since taking office?
When you consider what he campaigned on and what he has done in office, it makes a Republican scratch his head a little bit.
Remember the W who advocated leaner government?
He gave us the giant, ubiquitous Department of Homeland Security. The USA Patriot Act. The No Child Left Behind program.
He talked about responsible, efficient government and has now presided over the biggest deficits in history.
He was a neophyte when it came to foreign affairs. He seemed to not know much about foreign countries, let alone foreign policy.
Now we are occupying a couple foreign countries and are immersed in some of the most sensitive foreign policy issues of our time, like North Korea, India, the Middle East and our relationships with other NATO allies.
What happened to W?
I think I have a pretty good idea what happened.
Sept. 11 is what happened.
Sept. 11 is what is driving a great deal of the policy.
Sept. 11 is what is driving up the deficits.
Sept. 11 has become quite pervasive in the psychology of the American public.
You can say whatever you want about the system of government and politics in America, but this is sure these days.
The polls drive the policy.
When you see the polls shift, you see the policy shift.
When enough Americans say they've given up enough civil liberties in exchange for security, the government will back off.
When enough Americans say they absolutely don't want to spend another dime in Iraq, the policy will shift.
The one area where I think the W administration can find some comfort is the economy.
Frankly, I am surprised the economy is as healthy as it is.
Jobs are still a problem, with unemployment running above 6 percent.
But I think that is more a sign of the times than the economy.
I think in the 1990s, during the boom period - which, depending on who you talk to was either an economic boom or a crooked accounting boom - companies capitalized and staffed their operations at alarming rates.
At those levels of capitalization and staffing, it wouldn't take much of an economic downturn to wreak havoc in the American workplace.
Enter the dot com implosion, followed by Sept. 11, followed by the Enron, Andersen, Global Crossings, WorldCom, et. al. debacles and the havoc.
Follow that with a tanking stock market that lost some 25 percent of its value and the recipe for havoc was complete.
That's why I think - economically speaking - things could be much worse today than they are.
I think corporations learned something. I think the corporate world today is different.
Companies are trimming their inventories and their workforces. They are closing plants and unloading less-than-profitable divisions.
Nationwide, lean and mean is the hue and cry.
Even, finally, executive perks are starting to to raise eyebrows in corporate boardrooms.
Of course there were companies that always operated efficiently.
But I honestly believe they were the exception during the corporate binging of the 90s.
That's why today, I believe, you see fairly optimistic reports on inventories, consumer spending, retail sales, housing and manufacturing.
But I don't think you will see a rosy unemployment report anytime soon.
I think American companies have learned to do more with less.
I think they learned from their mistakes and I don't think they will make the same mistakes again on the near future.
Whether the mild turnaround in the economy is policy driven (tax cuts) or boardroom driven (corporate austerity) is debatable. It's probably a combination of the two.
But I do believe, given the circumstances, we are fortunate to be where where are economically.
But nonetheless, there still seems to be nagging uncertainty hanging over our land.
People worry about terrorism and the Middle East, North Korea and India.
People wonder what the outcome will be in Iraq.
I sense a certain uneasiness and skepticism.
Yes, American is a vastly different place since Sept. 11, 2001.
And I think that is exactly what the terrorists wanted. [[In-content Ad]]
If I ran into W on the street, I would ask him one question.
Who are you and what have you done with George W. Bush?
I mean, really, what in the world has happened to W since taking office?
When you consider what he campaigned on and what he has done in office, it makes a Republican scratch his head a little bit.
Remember the W who advocated leaner government?
He gave us the giant, ubiquitous Department of Homeland Security. The USA Patriot Act. The No Child Left Behind program.
He talked about responsible, efficient government and has now presided over the biggest deficits in history.
He was a neophyte when it came to foreign affairs. He seemed to not know much about foreign countries, let alone foreign policy.
Now we are occupying a couple foreign countries and are immersed in some of the most sensitive foreign policy issues of our time, like North Korea, India, the Middle East and our relationships with other NATO allies.
What happened to W?
I think I have a pretty good idea what happened.
Sept. 11 is what happened.
Sept. 11 is what is driving a great deal of the policy.
Sept. 11 is what is driving up the deficits.
Sept. 11 has become quite pervasive in the psychology of the American public.
You can say whatever you want about the system of government and politics in America, but this is sure these days.
The polls drive the policy.
When you see the polls shift, you see the policy shift.
When enough Americans say they've given up enough civil liberties in exchange for security, the government will back off.
When enough Americans say they absolutely don't want to spend another dime in Iraq, the policy will shift.
The one area where I think the W administration can find some comfort is the economy.
Frankly, I am surprised the economy is as healthy as it is.
Jobs are still a problem, with unemployment running above 6 percent.
But I think that is more a sign of the times than the economy.
I think in the 1990s, during the boom period - which, depending on who you talk to was either an economic boom or a crooked accounting boom - companies capitalized and staffed their operations at alarming rates.
At those levels of capitalization and staffing, it wouldn't take much of an economic downturn to wreak havoc in the American workplace.
Enter the dot com implosion, followed by Sept. 11, followed by the Enron, Andersen, Global Crossings, WorldCom, et. al. debacles and the havoc.
Follow that with a tanking stock market that lost some 25 percent of its value and the recipe for havoc was complete.
That's why I think - economically speaking - things could be much worse today than they are.
I think corporations learned something. I think the corporate world today is different.
Companies are trimming their inventories and their workforces. They are closing plants and unloading less-than-profitable divisions.
Nationwide, lean and mean is the hue and cry.
Even, finally, executive perks are starting to to raise eyebrows in corporate boardrooms.
Of course there were companies that always operated efficiently.
But I honestly believe they were the exception during the corporate binging of the 90s.
That's why today, I believe, you see fairly optimistic reports on inventories, consumer spending, retail sales, housing and manufacturing.
But I don't think you will see a rosy unemployment report anytime soon.
I think American companies have learned to do more with less.
I think they learned from their mistakes and I don't think they will make the same mistakes again on the near future.
Whether the mild turnaround in the economy is policy driven (tax cuts) or boardroom driven (corporate austerity) is debatable. It's probably a combination of the two.
But I do believe, given the circumstances, we are fortunate to be where where are economically.
But nonetheless, there still seems to be nagging uncertainty hanging over our land.
People worry about terrorism and the Middle East, North Korea and India.
People wonder what the outcome will be in Iraq.
I sense a certain uneasiness and skepticism.
Yes, American is a vastly different place since Sept. 11, 2001.
And I think that is exactly what the terrorists wanted. [[In-content Ad]]