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Bush signed legislation in 2003 enacting a prescription drug benefit as part of Medicare, the government health care plan for seniors
-- a huge entitlement program projected to cost as much as $1.2 trillion over 10 years. The Troubled Asset Relief Program, the bank bailout program widely loathed by many conservatives, was another Bush-era program. Congress authorized nearly $700 billion for the program at the recommendation of Bush's treasury secretary, former Goldman Sachs executive Henry Paulson, in response to the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the subsequent financial crisis in the fall of 2008. As a presidential candidate, Obama supported the TARP bailout, as did his GOP rival, Sen. John McCain. To be sure, today's GOP candidates occasionally acknowledge that not all was perfect pre-Obama. "The reason we find ourselves in the problem today is because we had Republicans and Democrats
-- you couldn't tell the difference in the way they were spending," Rick Perry told a campaign audience in Cedar Rapids. The Texas governor has been sharply critical of Congress, insisting he would bring an outsider's perspective to tackling the nation's economic woes as president. Others have also tried to distance themselves from Washington and, by implication, the Bush years. Mitt Romney stresses his experience as a businessman and as Massachusetts governor. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman talks up his background as a chief executive. Newt Gingrich reminds voters that he presided over a balanced budget as speaker of the House during the Clinton years. Santorum's surge into top-tier contention has sparked complaints from rivals about his votes on spending. Among other things, he voted in favor of the Medicare prescription drug program. Bush still has loyal supporters who believe his legacy will be vindicated by history. But even they say the GOP field won't be embracing him anytime soon. "Sad to say, they're looking at polling data that indicates they're better off not bringing him into the campaign," former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer said. "I think President Bush has made America a safer nation and better nation and I'm proud of it. But politics isn't about what's fair, it's about winning."
[Associated
Press;
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