Some libertarians had much to say about pres. Bush’s foreign policy and general approach to the war on terror. On Guantanamo, renditions, foreign jails, FICA, Patriot Act, waterboarding, Geneva Convention they accused the President of shredding the Constitution and violating American liberties.
They contributed to the constant denigration not only of the past administration but also of the conservative movement in ways that went well beyond constructive political and intellectual criticism. They ultimately helped creating the environment that lead to two sweeping victories for the Democrats. The mantra was “Dems will raise taxes but at least will restore the American Constitution”.
Now pres. Obama is keeping most of the previous administration policies when it comes to homeland security and has postponed the restoration of the Republic of one year when it comes to Guantanamo (incidentally we also learned that the Geneva Convention has not been violated).
Economically he’s a disaster (from a libertarian point of view) with more than one trillion in debt and a stimulus package that lays out the ground work for a permanent increase in public expenditure and hence taxes, widespread government intervention, the diffusion of an entitlement culture rather than an entrepreneurial one, socialized medicine and a “unionized economy” like the ones not creating jobs and wealth in Western Europe. Pres. Bush was no Reagan, but the dems might be on an unprecedented spending spree.
How’s pres. Obama working for you? Why do not I see the same level of libertarian hysteria that accompanied pres. Bush? Pres. Obama is certainly not doing better. Why aren’t we asking for war crimes trials or denouncing the shredding of the Constitution? I see no policy change in Iraq or Afghanistan, the FICA, renditions and foreign jails are still there. A promise on Guantanamo is enough?