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Questioning the Conservatism of President Bush

Is President George W. Bush really a conservative? The ?Bush II? years have seen a remarkable growth in government size, not to mention what many would charge as interference in the privacy of American citizens. Since September 11, 2001, the Bush Administration in its various forms has created the Department of Homeland Security, created new tax cuts, spied on American citizens at home, and listened to their phone calls abroad. While national security is the excuse that the Bush White House has given, the statements from the White House have often seemed more like dictates.

Healthy for the American system, this is probably not. Does this mean, though, that President Bush is the first president to treat the Constitution?s protections so cavalierly? No. Luckily for the United States, the Constitution has weathered many challenges to its supremacy. The Congress, however, is more than a bit at fault for allowing the power of the Executive Branch to grow as it has. Rather than act as the agents of the people in Washington, Senators and Representatives of the Republican Party have often acted more like vassals.

George W. Bush has until 2009 to see through his agenda. While many might denounce it as conservative, the somewhat alarming growth of the power of the Executive Branch, and the growing size of the U.S. government, point to an entirely different sort of ideology at work in the White House, and it isn?t even neo-conservatism. One could easily charge that what is guiding the Bush Administration is a form of liberalism that will sooner or later need to be checked by the Congress, and the Supreme Court, if the American experiment is to continue successfully into the future.