Thursday, May 01, 2008

Quick Quiz Results

Match the following accomplishments with the President under which they were accomplished:

Ending the Vietnam War
Creating the EPA & OSHA
Deregulating the Airline and Trucking Industries
Welfare Reform
NAFTA
Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit
Campaign Finance Reform

Republican Richard Nixon
Democrat Jimmy Carter
Democrat Bill Clinton
Republican George W. Bush


McMc got it right. Nixon ended the Vietnam War and created the EPA and OSHA, Jimmy Carter got the ball rolling on deregulation, Clinton chalked up the NAFTA free trade agreement and welfare reform, while George W signed the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit and Campaign Finance Reform into law.

As usual, there was a purpose behind this diabolical enterprise, and that would be to point out that when it comes to both international relations and domestic affairs, things are not always what they seem. Throw Nixon's normalization of relations with communist China into the mix and all eight accomplishments don't seem to fit our political preconceptions. Republicans ended a war that Democrats started, Republicans created intrusive bureaucratic agencies, and Republicans vastly increased both the scope and budget of government. Democrats scaled back social welfare, deregulated major industries and signed a major free trade pact.

This isn't to say vote John McCain to end the war or Clinton or Obama to support free trade, only to point out that political philosophy doesn't always play out in policy. Regardless of your political beliefs, it strikes me as a reason to be wary of both political parties- how sure can you be about what you're getting?

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