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92 of 104 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well-Written New Democrat Propaganda, May 12, 2003
This review is from: It's Still the Economy, Stupid : George W. Bush, The GOP's CEO (Paperback)
Crossfire Commentator and former Clinton Adviser Paul Begala's book "It's Still the Economy Stupid" is an excellent examination of what is wrong and will continue to be wrong with the Bush Administration's economic policies. It is well-written, has a cutting sense of humor, and its assertions are well-supported by hard evidence. However, don't let any of that fool you: Begala has an agenda, and this book IS propaganda. I think it would be instructive for anyone who likes reading books like this to read some Republican and Democratic propaganda back to back. The differences really come out. As a general rule, the Dem propaganda very rarely tells direct lies or makes outrageous fabrications about anything. Instead, they simply OMIT the material that they would rather not deal with. Begala's book definetely fits that mold - if you read his book, you would think the 90s were peaches and cream for everyone in America. They were not. However, this does not change the plain fact that they were pretty good, and better than anything Republican policies would have resulted in. Furthermore, you would believe George Bush caused the current recession. He did not - however, he did make it worse and has done nothing to correct the true difficulties confronting the economy. Dems also usually are easy to read and have a friendly sense of humor about what they are doing. Compare that to say, Ann Coulter. Her footnotes, if you bother to check them out, are a literal papertrail revealing just how much lying she has to do to make it look like there is a factual basis for anything coming out of her word processor. Furthermore, if the spirit of Dem propagana is humor, the spirit of Repub propaganda is hate. The book is surprisingly light reading, given how full of hard facts it is. It is an excellent little bit of propaganda concerning Clinton's positive accomplishments and Bush's lack of them. Anyone who reads this book and walks away without serious questions regarding what Bush is doing to the wallets of 98 or 99% of all Americans is either stupid, blind to the facts, or has been listening to Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh for so long they have forgotten what facts actually look like.
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105 of 120 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extremely well researched, December 2, 2002
This review is from: It's Still the Economy, Stupid : George W. Bush, The GOP's CEO (Paperback)
When George Bush took the oath of office under extremely controversial circumstances, I was prepared to give him a lot of slack. I think he handled the tragic events of 9/11 very well (although, seriously, wouldn't any president have acted the same way...even a Carter or Ford? I think so), but I haven't been impressed by anything he's done other than that. This book helped me understand why. One of the reasons I respect Begala's work is because he documents his sources so well. Virtually every paragraph is footnoted to a credible (repeat...credible) media source (often a conservative one) or official U.S. government entity. I have checked out many of these sources myself...and they're accurate. That's what makes me appreciate Mr. Begala's book so much. Apart from the accuracy of his information, it's a darn good read. Funny, angry and fast-moving. It's the straw that broke this reader's back in terms of no longer giving the Bush administration the benefit of the doubt. I now believe that everything that was said about Bush being a devious lightweight is frighteningly true. The one exception would be his flawless ability to say "yes" to any corporation who will line his party's pockets (the Democrats, to be sure, are not immune from this themselves, but I've never seen a president jettison the well-being of the population as a whole with such reckless abandon...and lie about it so often, as Begala painstakingly documents). This is a book that needed to be written, yet I fear it only scratches the surface. I look forward to Mr. Begala's next book.
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54 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Let me correct the misinformed Republican below..., April 7, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: It's Still the Economy, Stupid : George W. Bush, The GOP's CEO (Paperback)
This book is factual, with many footnotes to verify Begala's claims. Actually, footnotes aren't even necessary... everyone knows what Bush's policies have been, and what the results of his policies have done to the country. I don't think republicans can even debate it anymore these days; nevertheless, they try to debate it, using silly arguments that don't hold water. Take the last reviewer here to give this book a negative review, for example. Let's look at his defense of Bush and condemnation of Clinton, and correct a few things.... "It's a stupid book, stupid... nothing more than the usual Democratic demogagory."
Sorry, no. It's a SMART book, one full of FACTS whether you're a Dem or a Repug. I suppose this reviewer thinks he's smarter than the economists who support the claims in the book. "The economy collapse [sic] while Clinton/Gore was in office. Clinton did nothing to stimulate the economy other than raise taxes on the middle class."
Definitely not true. Clinton did a lot to stimulate the economy, and never did he raise taxes on the middle class. Clinton raised the Earned Income Tax Credit, esentially giving the middle class a TAX CUT and stimulating the economy. Bush's "tax cut" benefits the wealthiest 1% of our country, but Clinton's methods benefitted those who needed it most. And Clinton had the only balanced budget in 30 years, and left office with a budget surplus! Then, to pay for his tax cuts, Bush squandered that surplus and put the government in debt again. "And last of all, the economy of the 1990's was contributed by the success of Reaganomics of the late 1980's."
That's really grasping at straws. Republicans forced to admit that there was a strong economy in the 90s can't bring themselves to admitting Clinton had anything to do with it, so they say ludicrous things like this. By this argument, it took 5 or more years for the "benefits" of Reagonomics to take hold and steer this country into the black! I suppose this fellow would also blame the current hard times on the economic policies of Clinton; always attributing the current economy to the prior president (when it suits his needs). But if the economy were strong right now, would this same fellow say it was because of the policies of a president that held office 5 years ago? No, because that would give Clinton credit, and he can't have that! The current economy is the result of the current administration's policies, be it Clinton or Bush, strong economy or recession. "Reagan proposed the largest tax cuts of the middle class and poor. This jolted the economy by giving spending power to the people."
This isn't true at all, but it's right-on-the-money if you substitute Reagan's name with Clinton's. By increasing the EITC, Clinton gave a "tax cut" to the demographic with the strongest buying power - the middle class. That jump-started the economy. And by balancing the budget for the first time in 30 years, Clinton caused interest rates to go down, which further boosted the economy. Even Dubya's daddy warned about the "quick fix" of enacting massive tax cuts that couldn't be paid for... but that didn't stop Dubya from squandering the budget surplus (and then some) on his "tax cuts" for the wealthy. I don't think this Anonymous reviewer from Texas read the same book I did. It's all in there, with supporting footnotes from economists. ...
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