Not Much "There" There
Well the press conference has ended, and correspondents are already saying "what really struck me was how little news came out" of the hour-long 'event'. The president repeated his signature lines about energy, Iraq, polls, Bolton, Putin, No Child Left Behind, North Korea and the economy, making literally zero news on any of those issues.
On Social Security, Bush was expected to offer "specifics" of his reform proposal, but the only real specific he mentioned was that he would consider allowing benefits for lower-income workers to grow faster than for those who "are better off" (although he later backed off this, saying it was simply "part of the negotiations"). But this will undoubtedly be the 'line of the night.'
I suppose the most important thing to come out of this press conference was the questions that weren't asked. We heard nothing about the ballooning federal deficits - nothing about holding those responsible for Abu Ghraib to account - nothing about Darfur - and not much new at all.
No wonder the networks didn't want it cutting into their sweeps.
[Update: One quick thing that also seems to be getting some play on the cable networks, and that I forgot above, a moment when I agreed strongly with what Bush was saying. Asked if he believed those who are opposing his judicial nominees are "against people of faith," as the "Justice Sunday" crowd has said, Bush commented that he "didn't agree with" that conclusion. "I think people oppose my nominees because of judicial philosophy," Bush said. An excellent statement, and I'm glad to hear he feels that way.
A full transcript of the presser is available here. -- 9:31 p.m.]
posted by JBD @ 9:23 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I thought it was interesting that at one point Bush said, "I know some Americans have reservations about investing in the stock market, so I propose that one investment option consist entirely of treasury bonds, which are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government."
Later he says that the money paid into Social Security today NOT paid to current retirees..."funds other government programs." He didn't mention that it funds those programs by purchasing US Treasury Bonds "backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government." But instead he says, "..all that's left behind is file cabinets full of IOUs." A few weeks ago he called them "worthless IOUs."
So is the government going to default on the US Treasury Bonds purchased by Social Security? How valuable will that make the bonds people put in their private account? Or is he trying to steal only OUR money that we've been paying into Social Security?
My 14 year-old heard Bush say about Kim Jung Il, "The more he brags and the more he threatens, the more isolated he becomes." My son said, "That's kind of ironice for Bush to be saying that." My boy!
I think it's rare for Bush to say anything I agree with, but I have to say that I think he's right this once, too: people don't give a rip about "faith" as such, his nominees have rotten judicial philosophy and don't respect the law the way they should. While I have little love for most conservative viewpoints, I can certainly respect an intelligent conservative (ah, Bill Buckley, you're my hero!) who is capable of reasoning, discussing points, and even (gasp!) changing his/her mind. George Schultz comes to mind for this, too: while pretty conservative, he was never a demagogue. I always figured that he held his positions from reasoning and experience, but you might actually be able to persuade him with new evidence that he should change his mind and he would. Georgie-boy is just a world-class horse's petoot.
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