Taking the Pulse of Bush's America

[NVMojo]

This is what we are up against, folks.

July 24, 2005

President Bush has visited this city just once, but his imprint is everywhere. His impact is evident in Bill Langley's living room, where there's a shrine to the son who died in Iraq.

It's in the sagging public-housing projects whose redevelopment was recently delayed by the rejection of a $20 million federal grant request.

Money from his budget will soon be used to help clean up a stagnant pond at Gainesway Park so kids in a low-income neighborhood can get fishing lessons from senior citizens.

Police cruisers have new computers thanks to homeland security funds, but community development director Paula King has seen four years of "decreases in federal funding for social service programs ... and really stiff competition" for everything else.

Sometimes a president's legacy is not apparent until after he leaves the White House. However, Bush's presidency has been marked by dramatic events such as the Sept. 11 attacks and the 2001 recession and his aggressive responses: war with Iraq, deep tax cuts, new emphasis on homeland security. Here and across the nation, he has altered budget priorities, the way public schools are run and how people think about politics and religion.

more...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-07-24-lexington-main_x.htm