Andrew Sullivan, the (mostly) conservative warblogger and pundit, has written a piece for the New Republic called Attention Deficit, vigorously taking issue with Bush's recent appearance on Meet the Press.

After giving props to Bush for his explanations regarding the war on Iraq, Sullivan took a different angle in assessing Bush's approach to the economy.

But it was in the second part of the interview that things, to my mind, unraveled. Bush offered no compelling rationale for reelecting him. He offered excuses on the economy; and, on the critical matter of the country's fiscal health, he seemed scarily out of touch.

Sullivan goes on to criticize Bush's approach to the deficit, saying "no one believes" that Bush's budget will realistically halve the deficit in five years, despite Bush's claims that it will. He then rails on Bush's claim that the Medicare package will also be good for the long-term economy.

OK, let me put this gently here. Is he out of his mind? The minor reforms to Medicare are indeed welcome in providing more choice and some accountability in the program. But the major impact of his Medicare reform is literally trillions of dollars in new spending for the foreseeable future.

The kicker is a charge that harkens eerily of another Bush adminstration's Achilles' Heel -- the suggestion that he's out of touch.

We have a few options here: The president doesn't know what he's talking about, or he's lying, or he trusts people telling him lies. But it is undeniable that this president is not on top of the most damaging part of his legacy--the catastrophe he is inflicting on our future fiscal health.

Previous Comments

ID

137027

Comment

Interesting read. The bit that made me giggle was: "It would appear from this response that the president believes that highway construction is an entitlement program. Again: Does he have the faintest idea what he's talking about?" Remember the campaign, when his appearing clueless was considered a virtue?

Author

kate

Date

2004-02-10T17:07:06-06:00