The GOP's "Back To Bush" Strategy

Last Friday, Vice President Joe Biden delivered a fiery speech in which he lambasted Republicans for seeking a return to the Bush years.  He characterized the GOP's governing strategy as "Repeal and Repeat: Repeal everything positive done, and repeat the polices of the previous eight years of the Bush administration."

Biden's case was strengthened on Sunday when the leaders of the Republican House and Senate campaign committees reiterated their support for the Bush agenda.

While discussing "the relative merits of Republican rule during the Bush years" and how Republicans would govern on NBC's Meet the Press, NRCC chair Pete Sessions (R-TX) declared that "we need to go back to the exact same agenda that is empowering the free enterprise system rather than diminish it."

The "go back to the exact same agenda" line prompted the Washington Post's Greg Sargent to ask, "GOP promises return to Bush agenda?" Watch it:

Similarly, NRSC chair John Cornyn also had kind words for the former President.  Asked how the release of President Bush's memoir this fall would influence Republicans' electoral prospects, Cornyn said:

But look, I think President Bush's stock has gone up a lot since he left office. People appreciate his resolve and commitment in the face of a national security threat like 9/11. He had his challenges, no doubt. We have, I think, learned a lot about things we could have done better as Republicans in terms of fiscal responsibility, but when he left office, the deficit was 3.2% of the gross domestic product, today it's about 10%. We've added $2.3 trillion to the national debt since President Obama got there. I think a lot of the people are looking back with a little, with more fondness on President Bush's administration and I think history will treat him well.

Watch:

From the Recovery Act, to the Affordable Care Act, to Wall Street Reform, the Republican Party's near-unanimous opposition to everything President Obama and Congressional Democrats have accomplished shows that, without a doubt, the GOP is yearning for a return to the policies of the Bush administration.