For me, one quote that hasn’t been widely reported on is really the key to George Bush’s speech last night:
Anyone who wants more details on my agenda can find them online. The web address is not very imaginative, but it’s easy to remember: GeorgeWBush.com.
And that’s when it clicked for me: George Bush’s plan is to bring back the bubble. What bubble? Why, the .com bubble of course. It seemed to work for Clinton — you know, job growth, stock market growth, the works. So Bush is doing what any
fiscally conservative politician would do in this situation: spend money he doesn’t have, create a ton of noise, and hope that by the time the bills come due he leaves someone else holding the bag.
Profits? Losses? That doesn’t matter. He’s compassionate. That’s what matters.
Here’s conservative (former conservative? The mind boggles.) Andrew Sullivan on last night’s speech:
THE END OF CONSERVATISM: But conservatism as we have known it is now over. People like me who became conservatives because of the appeal of smaller government and more domestic freedom are now marginalized in a big-government party, bent on using the power of the state to direct people’s lives, give them meaning and protect them from all dangers. Just remember all that Bush promised last night: an astonishingly expensive bid to spend much more money to help people in ways that conservatives once abjured. He pledged to provide record levels of education funding, colleges and healthcare centers in poor towns, more Pell grants, seven million more affordable homes, expensive new HSAs, and a phenomenally expensive bid to reform the social security system. I look forward to someone adding it all up, but it’s easily in the trillions. And Bush’s astonishing achievement is to make the case for all this new spending, at a time of chronic debt (created in large part by his profligate party), while pegging his opponent as the “tax-and-spend” candidate. The chutzpah is amazing.
Where can I read the prospectus on what is sure to be a blockbuster IPO?
(And for the record, like Sullivan, I agree that Bush gave a fantastic speech. I just think this “plan” demonstrates how fiscally irresponsible Bush is.)