President Bush

As we prepare to see the exit of our current President and enter in a new one, I thought I would share my thougts on President Bush. I was 20 years old the first term Bush was voted in. I voted for him then just because I could vote and he was Republican. I was 24 the next term and voted for him again, this time based off his morals as a man and many other things I admired about him. I know I am probably of the 10% of the population who still approves of him, but hey that is ok because that is my right as an american. I always commend Bush because he wasn't afraid to get in there and do what he thought was right, and voice his opinion about it. We as america surely have to Give bush credit, has any other president had to endure what he did with 9/11, being attacked on our own soul. Do you remember how you felt that day? The revenge on your minds? Bush talked about seeking out these cowards and bringing them to justice, which he has followed thru with. Maybe not the way some of you wish but it did happen. As far as the economy goes that could be traced back to 9/11, is that Bush's fault? Here is an exert from an article I read: The attacks had a significant economic impact on the United States and world markets.[169] The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and NASDAQ did not open on September 11 and remained closed until September 17. When the stock markets reopened, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) stock market index fell 684 points, or 7.1%, to 8921, a record-setting one-day point decline.[170] By the end of the week, the DJIA had fallen 1,369.7 points (14.3%), its largest one-week point drop in history.[171] U.S. stocks lost $1.4 trillion in value for the week.[171] This is equivalent to $1.7 trillion in present day terms.[172] In New York City, about 430,000 job-months and $2.8 billion in wages were lost in the three months following the 9/11 attacks. The economic effects were mainly focused on the city's export economy sectors.[173] The city's GDP was estimated to have declined by $27.3 billion for the last three months of 2001 and all of 2002. The Federal government provided $11.2 billion in immediate assistance to the Government of New York City in September 2001, and $10.5 billion in early 2002 for economic development and infrastructure needs.[174]
The 9/11 attacks also hurt small businesses in Lower Manhattan near the World Trade Center, destroying or displacing about 18,000 of them. Assistance was provided by Small Business Administration loans and federal government Community Development Block Grants and Economic Injury Disaster Loans.[174] Some 31.9 million square feet of Lower Manhattan office space was damaged or destroyed.[175] Many wondered whether these jobs would return, and the damaged tax base recover.[176] Studies of the economic effects of 9/11 show that the Manhattan office real-estate market and office employment were less affected than initially expected because of the financial services industry's need for face-to-face interaction.[177][178]
North American air space was closed for several days after the attacks and air travel decreased upon its reopening, leading to nearly a 20% cutback in air travel capacity, and exacerbating financial problems in the struggling U.S. airline industry.[179] Should we blame the terrorists instead of Bush? I could go on and on and I am sure many people could argue with me their points against him and that is fine. Over the last several years I have asked people to just support him whether you like him or not, he is the leader of our country, which is no easy job. So to myself I also say I did not support Barack Obama but I will support and pray for him as he takes on the job of leading our country. So from myself, Jason Stolle, Thank you President Bush for your 8 years of service to our country and may God bless you.