Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Jeb Bush is just George W. Bush as seen from a different angle.

Think Progress has gathered together a number of facts about Jebbie that paint his as essentially the keeper of the George W. legacy, and an uber conservative to the core.

Here are a few:  

He doesn’t recognize exceptions to abortion restrictions. When a severely retarded woman was raped and impregnated while in the care of the state, Bush asked a court to appoint a guardian for the fetus in an effort to block her abortion. 

He opposes the expansion of Medicaid in Florida. When current Gov. Rick Scott (R) accepted federal money designated under the Affordable Care Act to expand Medicaid coverage to more low-income residents, Bush said he had doubts about the program because funding will be phased down after three years. 

He has worked to suppress voting rights. Florida currently has one of the worst restrictions blocking many convicted felons from voting, even after they are released from prison. In 2000, Bush’s administration also misidentified 12,000 eligible voters, more than 40 percent of which were African American, as convicted voters and purged them from the voting rolls. 

He has passed NRA-supported “Stand Your Ground” legislation. In 2005, Bush signed into law the bill which gave Floridians the right to use deadly force when they are in danger in public places, despite opposition from police chiefs in the state’s high crime Miami-Dade and Broward counties. The law famously came into play when George Zimmerman shot and killed unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin. 

In 1999, he abolished affirmative-action in higher education and state contracting through a unilateral executive order, triggering widespread protests across the state. His other major education reform, a statewide voucher program that directed taxpayer funds to private schools, was declared in violation of the Florida Constitution. 

 On national security, Jeb’s doctrine adheres closely to that of his brother George and he believes the U.S. should not back away from engaging allies and enemies around the world. 

When it comes to climate change, Jeb Bush claims the “not a scientist” defense. He started using that now-ubiquitous line back in 2009, when he also declared that the climate “may not be warming.”

The "New Coke" version of Bush is going to try very hard to reinvent himself as a moderate, and  is going to make distance from both his brother and father when it seems politically necessary to do so.

However Jeb has a record, and it is not one that can be buried under 25,000 e-mails hand picked to put a shine on his reputation.

What I find truly humorous about the idea of Jeb becoming the 2016 GOP candidate is that conservatives have put a lot of stock in an already visible attempt to smear Hillary using Bill Clinton's past sexual peccadilloes against her.


However I am fairly certain that the voters are going to be far less concerned with the husband of one candidate's wandering eye than the brother of the other candidate's past attempts to single-handedly destroy this country.

34 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:28 AM

    Jeb is already being criticized by Teabag Republicans who claim he's going to try to win the nomination while ignoring his base. Others are claiming he was talked into running to stave off another run by stumble-bum Mittens. Given that many Republicans still believe George the Witless was just a fine president, reading Republican tea leaves is an activity far beyond my grasp. I'll just grab the biggest container of popcorn Costco has and await the next nitwit road show.

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  2. Anonymous9:36 AM

    Photo: Trig and Tripp all grown-up sittin' on a bench. Wait that's the Bush Boys...and Rudy G that couldn't win the Florida Repub. primary. Don't they just chafe your hanging CHADS.

    RJ in BBistan

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  3. Anonymous10:03 AM

    P.U. to both!

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  4. Anonymous10:05 AM

    "In 2006 at my 30th Harvard Reunion, during a casual conversation one evening, a classmate told me about his years at Andover. Out of the blue he told me this story:

    Jeb Bush and one other fellow student back then ran an illegal drug and liquor distributorship on the Andover campus. When the heat started coming down, Bush ratted out the partner to the school authorities and saved his own skin. Jeb got away with it, was never caught, never punished, graduated unscathed and went on to the University of Texas at Austin."

    More at
    http://capitolhilloutsider.com/the-jeb-bush-illegal-drug-and-liquor-distributorship-at-andover/

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:13 AM

      A former Republican Congressman and Fox News talking head is making the allegations and justifies it by

      " In the summer of 2012, the WASHINGTON POST ran a huge story on Mitt Romney’s behavior at the Cranbrook School in Michigan, with the focus on an alleged incident where Romney and some other boys cut off the blond bangs of a classmate.

      If that event is worthy of the front page of the WASHINGTON POST, then the Jeb Bush Illegal Drug and Liquor Distributorship is certainly something the voters – especially GOP primary voters – have a right to know before they begin to choose a 2016 candidate."

      lol

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:26 AM

      Illegal drug and liquor distributorship? They applaud that kind of stuff. maybe even invested in some their own including prostitution. RIGHT, $arah?

      Delete
  5. Anonymous10:05 AM

    Posing a general question. If Hillary runs, as with any candidate, it has become standard fare that really nothing is off the table to use against the opposition (including within the same party during primaries, it can get really ugly obviously)... what are the chances that Bill has kept his wiener in his pants over the last 14 yrs? I'm being serious and not trying to smear or deflect from whatever dirt might be dug up on Jeb, and not looking for the 'it doesn't matter because Hillary is her own woman etc...' answer.



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:27 PM

      So what answer are you looking for?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:47 PM

      I'll bite. Hillary and Bill seem to have a nice "business arrangement" at this point in their marriage. Many marriages that have lasted as long as theirs are celibate unions and by that time many partners have gone their own way, keeping the marriage certificate alive due to joint investments and property holdings that would quite frankly be very complicated to dissolve.

      No biggie, Bill is a cad, everyone is aware of that, if Hillary has someone that she'd rather spend quality time with than Bill, so be it. I'm not a proponent of marriage except for financial reasons or to legitimize offspring and give them clear title to family assets.

      "Romantic marriage" is a fairy tale, a fairy tale that leads to divorce 50% of the time. If people at least like each other enough to build net worth and create a strong family unit then more power to them regardless of with whom, or if anyone, they get their sexual satisfaction. At its heart, marriage is a legal agreement, not a romantic one.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:59 PM

      Not pushing or looking for one answer or another. I like former President Clinton, I think his gift for politics is rare.

      12:47 I appreciate your answer, but I'm not asking a question of how their marriage works, and/or if the professional marriage works for them (which, agreed, I think most recognize their marriage as that style).

      It is more of a poll question for the general masses, in all honesty, what are the chances he has continued any infidelities? 25%, 50%, 75%, yes, no, absolutely?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous1:23 PM

      Dawn of time.kings had other women. No different. Now we are educated and one mate it should be. But it is not.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous4:58 PM

      @Anonymous12:47 PM :


      "Romantic marriage" is a fairy tale? Well, my husband is going to be very upset to hear this. Don't you sound miserable. Tell this to Michelle and Barack Obama, sad little person.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous7:42 AM

      Wow, no-one even wants to take a guess? That is very telling. I put the chances at around a solid 75%. Bill's persona is frankly so charming (when he isn't having one of his famous angry moments) that it is all too easy for him.

      Delete
  6. Jeb Bush running for prez... hmm, it's like wearing a raincoat and entering a wet t-shirt contest.
    Meh

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  7. Anonymous10:19 AM

    I don't think Terri Schiavo's husband will vote for Jeb.

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  8. Anonymous10:19 AM

    The two are a mirror image.If jeb wins the presidency we can stick a fork in the future of America.

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  9. Anonymous10:26 AM

    Hillary is the republican party favorite for the Democratic Party presidential nominee. Why would I want to vote for her?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:25 PM

      Cite your source, please.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous10:43 AM

    Totally nauseating. And, indeed, Hillary is the one the Repbubs favor.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:25 PM

      Cite your source, please.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous11:11 AM

    This shows how far right the republican party is when people from the lunatic fringe are considered "moderate republicans."

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  12. Anonymous11:43 AM

    Why does Giuliani's head look so strange?

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  13. Anonymous11:48 AM

    I agree with Babs Bush: 'No more Bush's'

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:21 PM

      I wish she had said that BEFORE she and and Bush sr. had their first kid.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous1:20 PM

    Go ahead waste millions. All who work on campaign ask for millions!!! In salary. Get your dough while the getting is good. I sure am going to.

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  15. Our Lad1:41 PM

    His last name is Bush. That's all I, or anyone else needs to fuckin know.

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  16. Anonymous1:56 PM

    Top photo - 'conjoined twins'!

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  17. Anonymous2:41 PM

    Look, right wingers calling him a RINO is a brilliant strategic move designed to get liberals to think "Aw, he isn't so bad, lets vote for him instead of Hillary" . (who nobody really likes).

    If enough people are dumb enough to fall for that, we'll get what we deserve, again.

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  18. Anonymous2:58 PM

    This is all there is? Another family member to run? The gene pool is lousy. Remember the last bush was dummer than a bunch of rocks. He was a stupid puppet. Just himself he was really dum. He had all kinds doing the work.

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  19. To call Jeb "brighter than W." is hardly a compliment.

    Also, too, I heard the Jeb-Bush-at-Andover story decades ago, from a family member, and his "punishment" was to be denied a letter of recommendation to Yale... Aww, poor puppy!

    His three children and WIFE, all of whom have had brushes with the law, will not escape unscrutinized. Neither will his brothers Neil (Silverado S & L), or even youngest brother Marvin, whose illegal diversion of controlled substances from a Virginia dentist cost that dentist his license and practice for a year or so.

    The only Bush with clean hands is Doro Bush LeBlond Koch, the C-student at Boston College who divorced her first husband and married a... Democrat. While the Koches were expecting their first child, I met Doro and chatted in a sibling-prep class at the hospital at which we were to deliver.

    Small town, Washington, D.C.!

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:39 PM

      Silverado!

      A shout out for the old days when crooks were indicted tried, convicted and sent to prison. Now days none of the above, and they run for office.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous3:19 PM

    Don't forget the daughter the druggie, and the wife with some illegal activities of her (caught red-handed at it too).

    PMom_GA

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  21. #fat man in another jam3:26 PM

    Speaking of Republicans who want to run for President: Ooops!

    "When the New Jersey pension system terminated a $150 million investment in a fund called Angelo, Gordon & Co. in 2011, that did not close the books on the deal. In the three years since state officials ordered the withdrawal of that state money, New Jersey taxpayers have forked over hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees to the firm. As those fees kept flowing, Angelo Gordon made a prominent hire: Mary Pat Christie, wife of Gov. Chris Christie, who joined the company in 2012 as a managing director and now earns $475,000 annually, according to the governor's most recent tax return."

    www.ibtimes.com/new-jersey-paid-fees-mary-pat-christies-firm-after-state-investment-was-terminated-1760682

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  22. Anita Winecooler4:50 PM

    I never quite believed fully that GWBush was the President and Dick Cheyney the Vice President. Cheyney was the sock puppet manipulator for eight years. Just wondering who Jeb will pick as Vice President? Jeb needs something to deflect from the legacy of the last name, so he'll pick a female. I hope he takes advice from John McCain. Imagine the laughs guffaws and gaffes!!

    That first photo kind of gives me the heebie geebies. They look like two drunks imitating Dean Martin. And they seem remarkably "close" for brothers, just sayin'.

    ReplyDelete

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