Choo Chooooo, all aboard the revisionism express! As a member of Generation Y, I love it when people like Alan Greenspan find their balls three years too late. It's like the Deadbeat Dad of political strategy!
Greenspan Says Bush's Economics Driven by Politics [what a surprise! ]
By Matthew Benjamin, Bloomberg.com
Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan criticized President George W. Bush for pursuing an economic agenda driven by politics rather than sound policy, with little concern for future consequences. [ it feels like 2003 in here.]
Soon after Bush took office, Greenspan wrote in a new book, it became evident that the Treasury secretary and White House economists would play secondary roles in decisions on taxes and other issues.In addition, officials with whom he had worked in the administration of President Gerald Ford changed after Bush brought them back to Washington, he said he found.
``The Bush administration turned out to be very different from the reincarnation of the Ford administration that I had imagined. [ who the fuck romanticizes the Ford administration? that should have been the first clue]
Now, the political operation was far more dominant,'' Greenspan, 81, wrote in ``The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World.'' The book, an advance copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg News, is scheduled for publication on Sept. 17. The Wall Street Journal published an account on its Web site today after buying a copy at a New York-area bookstore.
In the 531-page tome, which ranges from Greenspan's childhood in New York to his 18 years at the Fed, he recounts his relationships with the six presidents he served.
Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton were the most intelligent, he wrote, while he found Ford the most normal and likeable.
Ronald Reagan was the most devoted to free markets, though his grasp of economics ``wasn't very deep or sophisticated.'' [ surprise, surprise. the guy that spun welfare queens and trickledown wasn't totally there.]
George H.W. Bush, the current president's father, was very cordial, though Greenspan's relationship with him was complicated by differing views on monetary policy, he wrote. Bush blamed high interest rates, in part, for his 1992 election loss to Clinton. [ not his complete and utter unattractiveness in any way, shape, or form to the American people, recession, and general failure to accomplish anything long-lasting in the desert]
Harshest Criticism
Greenspan saved his harshest analysis for the current president. Soon after Bush took office in 2001, the president set about implementing a campaign promise to cut taxes, a policy Greenspan said he believed at the time wasn't well conceived. [ did motherfucker remember that he was chairman of THE FED at the time? generals and the CIA find a way to leak from the pentagon like it's going out of style, but Uncle McScrooge here was only left to cry alone in his vault of gold boullioun]
``Little value was placed on rigorous economic policy debate or the weighing of long-term consequences,'' he wrote. [ gee willikers Mr. Greenspan, looks like your hands were tied!]
In 2001 testimony before Congress, Greenspan was widely interpreted to have endorsed Bush's proposed tax cuts. In the book, he characterized his testimony as politically careless and said his words were misinterpreted. [ no see, when i was rolling over and grabbing my ankles for tax cuts that don't work, what i was TRYING to say what that is it was all sooooo misguided]
Greenspan also expressed disappointment in Bush's reluctance to antagonize then-House Speaker Dennis Hastert and other congressional Republicans by vetoing spending bills. [ what about his non reluctance on antagonizing the American people with his economic voodoo and pushing more Americans into poverty? who cares, I was just chairman of the FED!]
``There is a remedy for legislative excess,'' wrote Greenspan, ``it's called a presidential veto.'' [ yeah, in the first six years Bush really made it clear that a veto was something he was willing to consider in regards to Republican spending. do they keep these men locked up in mausoleums and only bring them out to lower interest rates and shit?]
`His Own Man'
Greenspan's frustration extended to Congress, which let spending get out of control, he wrote. ```Deficits don't matter,' to my chagrin, became part of the Republicans' rhetoric,'' [ I am able to totally remove myself from the fact that this flawed economic policy became practiced for 5 years] he said.
``The Republicans in Congress lost their way. They swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. They deserved to lose.'' The Republicans lost control of both houses of Congress in the November 2006 elections.
Even though he had differences with Bush on economic policy, Greenspan said the president promised him early on he wouldn't interfere with Fed policy. He kept his pledge, Greenspan said. [ so everything was bad because of Bush's policies but you still did all the heavy lifting? glad to see your world renowned economic brilliance really made an impact when it mattered ]
Greenspan also rejected the belief held by some critics that Vice President Dick Cheney tells Bush what to do.
``From my brief acquaintance'' with Bush, wrote Greenspan, ``it was my impression that he was his own man.'' [ especially when it came to vacationing, not knowing what country he was in, or offending the mothers of war dead]
When Bush brought one-time Ford aides Cheney -- whom Greenspan describes as having a ``sphinxlike calm'' [ glad to see we're not the only ones creeped out by Darth Cheney] -- and Donald Rumsfeld, back to Washington, the Fed chairman saw a ``golden opportunity to advance the ideals of effective, fiscally conservative government and free markets.''
`Unexpected Directions'
It wasn't to be. ``I was soon to see my old friends veer off in unexpected directions,'' wrote Greenspan, who had been encouraged by the budget surpluses of the Clinton administration. ``Then with George Bush came the tax cuts, unmatched by decreased spending, and, in the wake of September 11, still more open- handed spending.''[ he should write another book, "Impotence: A Guide To Wringing Your Hands While America's Ship Sinks" by Alan Greenspan" ]
Greenspan said he never became part of Bush's inner circle, in which dissent from staff like former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill wasn't encouraged. ``Paul's outspokenness put him at odds with the administration, which emphasized loyalty and staying on message.'' The White House just wanted a spokesman for its economic policies, he said.[ someone like Greenspan, for instance]
Greenspan's career in Washington began in 1967 when he worked on Nixon's presidential campaign. Though he said he found Nixon thoughtful and articulate, he soon saw a dark side. Just before the 1968 Republican convention, Greenspan attended a staff meeting where Nixon fulminated angrily and at length about Democrats.
``His speech was so intense and so laced with profanity that it would have made Tony Soprano blush,'' wrote Greenspan. He was so disturbed by the outburst that he turned down a job at the White House after Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey in the election. [ OK, got it. cursing will make a brother like Greenspan jump ship from the WH but failed economic policy will have him being "politically careless" in front of Congress.]
Nixon Resignation
During Nixon's second term, amid a recession, Greenspan agreed to become chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Nixon announced his resignation the night of Greenspan's Senate confirmation hearing.
Greenspan later worked on Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign and admired the candidate for ``the clarity of his conservatism.'' Reagan, wrote Greenspan, had fixed ideas about what government should and shouldn't do. In 1987 Reagan nominated Greenspan to succeed Paul Volcker as Fed chairman.