Bush claims credibility on taxes, economic policy

Bush claims credibility on taxes, economic policy

By Steve Benen

Given the spectacular nature of his economic failures, former President George W. Bush should probably avoid lectures on what policymakers should do when cleaning up his mess. But the man with the limitless chutzpah still likes to think he has some credibility on the subject.

Forbes magazine posted this clip of Bush speaking in New York City this morning at the George W. Bush Presidential Center's conference on "Tax Policies For 4% Growth."

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And how, pray tell, does Bush believe tax policy can lead to 4% GDP growth in the private sector? How else? By giving wealthy people more tax cuts. Indeed, the former president argued, "(I)f you raise taxes on the so-called rich, you're really raising taxes on the job creators."

It's tempting to go through Bush's remarks, detailing all of his errors of fact and judgment. I'm inclined to explain to the former president that millionaires and billionaires aren't "the so-called rich"; they're the actual rich. It's also tempting to note than when Bush says, "If you raise taxes, you're taking money out of the pockets of consumers," the same underlying policy argument applies to food stamps and unemployment benefits. And while we're at it, it might also be fun to explain that tax increases wouldn't be quite so necessary had Bush not blown a record-high budget surplus, added $5 trillion to the debt, and left President Obama with a $1.3 trillion deficit.

But you know what? Let's put that aside for a moment and consider a larger point: Bush has been so severely discredited, listening to him give economic advice is like getting tips from Mitt Romney on policy consistency.

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http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/10/11121957-bush-claims-credibility-on-taxes-economic-policy

Bush On Jobs: The Worst Track Record On Record

By WSJ Staff

President George W. Bush entered office in 2001 just as a recession was starting, and is preparing to leave in the middle of a long one. That’s almost 22 months of recession during his 96 months in office.

His job-creation record won’t look much better. The Bush administration created about three million jobs (net) over its eight years, a fraction of the 23 million jobs created under President Bill Clinton‘s administration and only slightly better than President George H.W. Bush did in his four years in office.

Here’s a look at job creation under each president since the Labor Department started keeping payroll records in 1939. The counts are based on total payrolls between the start of the month the president took office (using the final payroll count for the end of the prior December) and his final December in office.

Because the size of the economy and labor force varies, we also calculate in percentage terms how much the total payroll count expanded under each president. The current President Bush, once taking account how long he’s been in office, shows the worst track record for job creation since the government began keeping records. –

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/01/09/bush-on-jobs-the-worst-track-record-on-record/