Four More Years?

So President Bush has been sworn into for another four years in office. With 51% of the vote, Bush claims a mandate, and will certainly push his agendas forward with vigor. The questions remains, what will be pushed, and who will be caught in it’s wake?

Taxes

Bush has stated time and time again, he wants permanent tax cuts, and with the Republican led Congress and House, he will probably get what he wants. Never mind the real question of “where will we come up with the monies later on”, Bush is impervious to any negative feedback (on this and any other item, this is why he does not read/watch the news).

So what will this do for the future? Well if the Iraq war continues at its current pace, and any other conflicts come up, expect continuous debt laden request for more monies for those actions.

Social Security

The Democrats plan a direct stand against tampering with Social Security, and as long as the media helps them out on this one, it may be a battle won. A plethora of experts are warning against any current tampering, and even though Bush is not getting the picture, the issue might die out. I’d keep a close eye on this one.

Bush’s whole argument is Social Security is in dire straits, when in fact we are around 25-30 years before any preemptive action should be taken according to leading economists. This does not stop Bush’s fight, and as we all know now, shout something loud enough it must be true (e.g.: 71% of Americans thought Iraqi’s took part in 9/11, Bush’s flip-flop hoopla against Kerry, Swiftvet ads, etc.)

Covert Agencies

In the first term we had a pseudo-Ministry of Misinformation, now it seems that Donald Rumsfeld’s secret unit will get more powers. [MSNBC Article]. This unit is off of the Pentagon, and Rumsfeld alone has broad authority over clandestine operations. It seems that this secret agency is out of the control of the Congress, and is yet another example of the eroding freedoms and virtually non-existent checks and balances we now face.

Gay Marriage

Unquestionably, God Gays and Guns helped Bush claim victory in the swing states, but will he follow through. There are some in his inner circle that say Bush will let the issue die out, but bet your bottom dollar, the Religious Right in the country will fight tooth and nail to get it in the federal books as an Amendment. It looks like there is not enough support for this to ever made into law, but, it’s frightening to see the amount of bigotry and fright emanating from the right side of the aisle. If anyone thought that we were moving forward in the civil rights fight, you better recalculate your bearings, the right will make sure that we move backwards.

Abortion

I really wonder where GWB’s heart lies on this issue. Again, like Gay Marriage, the religious right wants to control the morality of the universe, but I think GWB will stay far enough away from abortion not to change Roe v. Wade directly. This is not to say that he won’t try to make smaller, incremental changes, but I think he feels that the party might suffer because of that.

War

Bush invaded Iraq on bad intelligence, but yet 51% of the country voted him back in, and with Bush’s stance that “accountability has passed”, [ArsTechnica Article] expect another invasion at some point. Possibly Cuba, Iran, Syria or some other countries that rub us the wrong way.

Summary

This will be a very interesting four years to come, not that I am personally looking forward to it, hopefully history will show that things were eventually corrected.