Betraying, Telling the Truth About Bush

[AGENDA21]

By Amity Shlaes

March 31 (Bloomberg) -- An old tax friend, Bruce Bartlett, has just published a book about President George W. Bush titled ``Impostor.''

I admire Bruce. He's been my buddy and my tutor. Over a decade of phone calls, he taught me about Eisenhower's top marginal rate and Germany's value-added tax. We fought together for tax cuts. Even more important, Bruce looms large in Washington, and his ideas warrant coverage.

Still, ``Impostor''? The title suggests that the president intends to deceive.

The charge troubled me enough that I managed to lose the book -- several times. Sure, the Bush administration committed a huge error when it created the senior-citizen drug program. Bush's Treasury secretaries wobble on the dollar. Bush lacks the will to make enemies necessary in a president, and he never vetoes. And, yes, Bush agreed to spending that might cause future tax increases.

But Bush's economic policy has been good enough to keep the U.S. competitive. It has increased productivity. Bush, unlike many presidents, actually understands the importance of entrepreneurship and does something about it. You may not like the result, but lying is not a big part of the story.

So I e-mailed Bruce questions. There isn't room for all the answers, but here are some of them:

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000039&refer=columnist_shlaes&sid=a1poSemVGzMk

[Toots]

1. Wasn't convinced by Bartlett's answers so I guess still heavy into kool ai

Although not one thing she said was defendable IMO. There is such a stench about the Bush* Cabal that even ultra conservatives are argueing among themselves and some (Bartlett) are actually writing books against what is going on. Bush* is most definitely a "Unifier". He is unifying the World against him and his entire Cabal.