How long will it take to undo the mess Bush has made for our country?

[bhunt70]

I saw an interview with President Clinton, and it made me think how short of a time it took to mess this whole country up. How long will it take to fix it. Will Kerry have enough time in 4 or 8 years?

[molly]

1. It will probably take more than both terms - but then again

Clinton fixed it pretty quickly. However, we were not at war.

[Deja Q]

8. He fixed the deficit... He didn't improve the country otherwise.

People were still doing more work for less money and the budget wasn't balanced until 1998. 6 years is not quick.

I fear we're too late...

[Don_G]

2. It Will Take Years

To correct the laws, executive orders, Supreme Court and especially the economy.

[leftofthedial]

3. at least two generations

to recover internationally. And that's only if the neocons don't seize power again in the meantime and screw things up all over again.

at least a decade to repair the economy.

a few centuries for the environment to recover.

[stellanoir]

4. centuries for our environment and

an eternity after we've committed the same arrogant colossal blunders of every imperial power throughout history.

The world no longer has any respect for us whatsoever.

Nor should they.

[Skittles]

5. some things really cannot be cleaned up

Bush has made a mockery of America - by illegally invading and bombing a country, he has left a lasting legacy from which America will never fully recover.

[Deja Q]

9. An open mockery.

In the early 1970s, TV shows had the bravery to point out social issues and inequities.

That was when the first cracks started to form.

How we had any credibility beyond that fink Reagan is beyond me, though in some ways Clinton (until 1998) did put some things to rights...

[Kanary]

6. Depends on how serious Kerry is........ how much Dem support he has.....

and how many companies will work against it......

Kanary

[DieboldMustDie]

7. 12 to 16 years...

if Kerry's 2 terms are followed be another liberal Democrat. Of course some things can never be undone, like the 10s of thousands of dead Bush will be leaving behind. :grr:

[AirAmFan]

10. Given the Baby Boom retirement bomb, we have until sometime before 2018

to straighten out our fisc before Social Security revenues start falling below promised payouts. In 2003, the SSA took in $632B and paid out $479B. Dubya squandered several times the difference on tax cuts for the rich and trying to be a "war president" like Daddy. This year will be much worse, and interest rates will start climbing on all the money we've unnecessarily borrowed.

In 2018, since the "lock box" is likely to be empty, most of the Treasury's borrowing capacity will have to be devoted to fulfilling retirement promises to Boomers (see http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/pr/trustee04-pr.htm ). If we don't get back on the surplus track well before then, there will be generational war. If enough can be borrowed or squeezed out of other budget items to fully pay out the "Trust Fund", Social Security STILL goes bust in 2042. Nice going, Dubya!