Bush Defends His Economic Record

At yesterday's news conference President Bush was asked about the economy, and while Bush at least acknowledged that "obviously these are very difficult economic times" he deflected all responsibility for the economy's troubles.

In fact Bush did what he does best, blaming others:

"This problem started before my presidency, it obviously took place during my presidency," said Bush.

Bush also vigorously defended his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. Falling back on his tired defense and seriously stupid statements he flatly stated:

"[He] will defend them after my presidency as the right course of action."

"There's a fundamental philosophical debate about tax cuts. Who best can spend your money, the government or you? I've always sided with the people on that issue."

But as the Washington Post noted yesterday, Bush "has presided over the weakest eight-year span for the U.S. economy in decades." The federal government "had a modest budget surplus when Bush took office," but his administration ran up deficits "even as the economy was growing at a healthy pace." When Bush took office, it was projected that the federal government would run a $710 billion budget surplus in 2009.

Now, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has calculated that Bush's tax cuts accounted for 42 percent of the fiscal deterioration between 2001 and 2008. Though Bush claims he "sided with the people" through his economic policies, he really just squandered their money.