by Jonathan Stilley

Created on: June 13, 2007

Certainly George W. Bush does have many conservative qualities. For example, he is the one who stood up to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in order to keep funding for the Iraq war on schedule. Without us fighting this war, Iraq would still be suffering the atrocities of Saddam Hussein's regime.

He also has been up front on fighting terrorists like al Qaeda and the Taliban, another tenet of conservatism. In that context he wants to keep our country safe from attacks on our soil.

In the days after the 9/11 attacks he also cut taxes in order to stimulate the nation's economy; a fact that has been largely forgotten by the media. And the result is also conveniently overlooked by the media. There has been steady growth of the nation's economy. The stock market has reached all-time highs, home building experienced an incredible boom, and with an unemployment rate of 4.5 percent, the nation is effectively at full employment.

The president is also a man of faith, often turning to God to guide him in his decisions. He is also unwavering in his stances on moral issues.

Having said these things, however, I can't call George W. Bush a true conservative. I say this for several reasons.

First, he champions some seemingly liberal causes. One being alternative sources of energy. He wants oil companies to explore alternative sources of energy rather than drilling in the ANWR region in Alaska as well as offshore drilling.

Another issue that Bush gives credence to that I find troubling is the issue of "global warming" (my quotes). President Bush wants to try and solve this fabricated crisis; forget the fact that the United States has rejected all provisions of the Kyoto treaty regarding "global warming".

Perhaps the most troublesome issue that conservatives disagree with the president on is immigration. To be fair, President Bush did sign a bill last October authorizing funds for a wall to be built on the US-Mexico border. But the thing that is the most troubling is that Bush supports a bill that would give amnesty to the 12-15 million illegal aliens that are currently in the country. Sorry, Mr. President. You can't have it both ways.

So as you can see, George W. Bush has a lot of conservative tendencies. But he is far from a true conservative.

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