Site search
sponsored by
News
ENLARGE
Richard Valdez and his grandson, Mateo Valdez, watch a video about President George W. Bush and the Iraq War on the Bush legacy tour bus, which rolled into town Wednesday.
GRAND JUNCTION — Nine million children without health care. Federal education policy underfunded by billions. A war for weapons that didn’t exist and ties to an event that someone else masterminded. An absence of lending and real estate speculation regulations. Work productivity rising while wages flatline. Coming to the rescue late in New Orleans.
This is President George W. Bush’s legacy, according to Washington, D.C.-based outreach organization Americans United for Change. The group collected information on that legacy and put it on a bus.
On Wednesday, that bus rolled into Grand Junction and parked in front of the Old Mesa County Courthouse.
The Bush Legacy Tour Bus’ message doesn’t intend to wage a personal attack on Bush, according to bus tour spokeswoman Julie Blust.
“No one person can do this much damage on their own,” she said.
Instead, the topical wall displays, videos and the 2000-2008 timeline snaking along the floor of the bus aim to detail votes, vetoes and policy choices made during the past eight years that contributed to a Bush presidency “failure,” Blust said.
People who step on the bus looking for a positive Bush legacy are in for a surprise. Most Bush supporters pop their head in the door, ask what the bus is about and quickly retreat. But people who are in on the intended message are glad to stick around and share the ways they’ve been effected by federal policy since the turn of the century.
Carole Chowen of Grand Junction is a member of the Green party and a substitute teacher. She said she’s seen many teachers buy supplies out of pocket for their classrooms and doesn’t believe they’re getting enough support from the government. Chowen is on Medicare now, but a few years ago she didn’t have health care because she couldn’t afford it.
“I think that this is a wonderful thing to bring to town because too few people are aware of the destruction that the Bush legacy has brought to this country,” Chowen said as she toured the bus Wednesday.
Rick Sanchez and his father Manuel Sanchez toured the bus on their way back to Phoenix from Rifle. The men were searching for jobs in Rifle because they said the economy and housing market are too bad in Arizona for them to earn a decent living, let alone save up for retirement.
“You try to make a good living for your family and at the end, what do you have?” said Manuel Sanchez.
“We’re just sick of this whole thing — fuel, the war. Soldiers are dying every day and for what?” Rick Sanchez said.
Reach Emily Anderson at eanderson@gjfreepress.com.
This is President George W. Bush’s legacy, according to Washington, D.C.-based outreach organization Americans United for Change. The group collected information on that legacy and put it on a bus.
On Wednesday, that bus rolled into Grand Junction and parked in front of the Old Mesa County Courthouse.
The Bush Legacy Tour Bus’ message doesn’t intend to wage a personal attack on Bush, according to bus tour spokeswoman Julie Blust.
“No one person can do this much damage on their own,” she said.
Instead, the topical wall displays, videos and the 2000-2008 timeline snaking along the floor of the bus aim to detail votes, vetoes and policy choices made during the past eight years that contributed to a Bush presidency “failure,” Blust said.
People who step on the bus looking for a positive Bush legacy are in for a surprise. Most Bush supporters pop their head in the door, ask what the bus is about and quickly retreat. But people who are in on the intended message are glad to stick around and share the ways they’ve been effected by federal policy since the turn of the century.
Carole Chowen of Grand Junction is a member of the Green party and a substitute teacher. She said she’s seen many teachers buy supplies out of pocket for their classrooms and doesn’t believe they’re getting enough support from the government. Chowen is on Medicare now, but a few years ago she didn’t have health care because she couldn’t afford it.
“I think that this is a wonderful thing to bring to town because too few people are aware of the destruction that the Bush legacy has brought to this country,” Chowen said as she toured the bus Wednesday.
Rick Sanchez and his father Manuel Sanchez toured the bus on their way back to Phoenix from Rifle. The men were searching for jobs in Rifle because they said the economy and housing market are too bad in Arizona for them to earn a decent living, let alone save up for retirement.
“You try to make a good living for your family and at the end, what do you have?” said Manuel Sanchez.
“We’re just sick of this whole thing — fuel, the war. Soldiers are dying every day and for what?” Rick Sanchez said.
Reach Emily Anderson at eanderson@gjfreepress.com.
