[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by GGG

No child left behind has created a fantastic data set to study educational progress and what works and what doesn't.

And a lot of what doesn't work is the basis of NCLB. There was potential for this program to work, but it was under-funded and did not address the outcomes of testing. It was great that we got standardized testing and testing data, but if there was nothing in the system that took that data and turned it into meaningful improvements in the system, then that is a flawed design and flawed system. Things haven't improved and have actually gone in the wrong direction because NCLB did not address the outcomes discovered in testing.

He tried to fix immigration but was blocked.

You would think he could have rammed that through considering he had the support of congress on almost everything he asked for. What happened?

His opposition to funding stem cell research from aborted fetuses led to research on how to create non embryonic stem cells from other sources which was successful.

Successful is obviously in the eye of the beholder. The scientific community differs in opinion.

A slew of negative ramifications followed for ES cell researchers. Now facing restrictions on the type of research conducted using federal funds, some scientists were forced to create a dichotomous research environment based on federal vs. private funding of staff, equipment, and lab space [3]. Collaboration and the sharing of knowledge between scientists also was hindered [4,5], and American researchers who previously spearheaded ES cell initiatives were no longer able to offer much of a contribution, stifling relationships with their international counterparts [6].

Further aggravating the situation was the fact that the 21 existing lines were not genetically or ethnically diverse, meaning specific disease processes (such as Parkinson’s) could no longer be studied in ES cells. Similarly, any information gleaned from the existing lines was limited to certain ethnicities, leaving uncertainty with regard to cellular processes in minority groups. In terms of therapeutic application, all 21 lines were of decidedly poor utility as they were cultured under inferior conditions by today’s standards [7].

This is balanced off with this.

During this time, however, there were several advances in the realm of stem cell research. The discovery of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, whereby adult somatic cells are induced to display properties consistent with ES cells, were first generated in mice by researchers in Japan [8]. Following the discovery, the White House noted that by “supporting alternative approaches, President Bush is encouraging scientific advancement within ethical boundaries” [9]. Subsequent U.S. progress in iPS cell research may have well enjoyed unique encouragement under Bush’s policies.

His initial response to 9/11 was good.

Which one? The one where he sat in a classroom full of kids, ####ting his pants, or the one where he hugged some firefighters before attacking the wrong country? If you know anything about the response to 9/11 you'll know that the Bush Administration took immediate steps to link the 9/11 attacks to Iraq. Richard Clark wrote about it extensively in his book about the events post 9/11 and terrorism in general. The response was weak and misguided. They should have focused on Afghanistan and tracked down Bin Laden there. They didn't commit and that led to the failure in Iraq and an on-going failure in Afghanistan. I fail to see anything good out of that.

He fixed the mess of the emergency response system post Katrina.

Actually, he didn't. What Bush did was create Homeland Security after 9/11, which made FEMA slow and unresponsive, with a greater focus on terror response than the more common natural disaters that FEMA was designed to handle. The Stafford Act of 1988 is still the basis for much of the FEMA response system. The Post-Katrina Act of 2006 made very minor changes to how FEMA worked, but changed the reporting structure of FEMA under DHS to make it more nimble and reactive. Real change to FEMA came in the shape of the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013. This changed the way Emergency Management worked from the ground on up, making it easier to get access to funds and resources during natural disasters. There are still improvements to be made, but FEMA is now designed to listen to those who work incidents and find weaknesses in the systems.

He's certainly not as bad as he is made out to be.

Yes, he's as bad as he's made out to be. He left the country in the worse shape it has been in since the great depression. Our foreign policy was a disaster, the economy was garbage, and everything was trending in the wrong direction. But beyond that, he did a bang up job!