"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
NOYB wrote:

Philosophy, Not Policy
Why Bush isn't good at interviews.

Sunday, February 8, 2004 4:30 p.m. EST
President Bush's interview on "Meet the Press" seems to me so much a
big-story-in-the-making that I wanted to weigh in with some thoughts. I
am
one of those who feel his performance was not impressive.


An interesting piece indeed, but wrong. Bush is an idiot, and that's
what came across in Russert's interview.

The Iraq stuff will be played over and again. Here's the part I found
most telling:

"RUSSERT: The General Accounting Office, which are the nation's
auditors...

BUSH: Yes.

RUSSERT: ... have done a study of our finances. And this is what your
legacy will be to the next generation.

It says that our current fiscal policy is unsustainable. They did a
computer simulation that shows that balancing the budget in 2040 could
require either cutting total federal spending in half or doubling
federal taxes.

Why, as a fiscal conservative, as you like to call yourself, would you
allow a $500 billion deficit and this kind of deficit disaster?

BUSH: Sure. The budget I just proposed to the Congress cuts the deficit
in half in five years.

Now, I don't know what the assumptions are in the GAO report, but I do
know that if Congress is wise with the people's money, we can cut the
deficit in half. And at that point in time, as a percentage of GDP, the
deficit will be relatively low. "


Did you get that?

"I don't know what the assumptions are in the GAO report..."

Any CEO who admitted he didn't know what assumptions his company's
auditors were using in analyizing the company's financials would be
fired on the spot by the Board of Directors.


GAO numbers are only used by the opposition party. In fact, I know of no
President who has ever proposed a budget in which the assumptions are the
same as those used by the GAO...so it isn't surprising that a President
would not pay attention to the GAO's assumptions.