Bush Takes on Obama

Bush Takes on Obama
By Chris Cillizza
Copyright by The Washington Post
June 12, 2009
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/white-house/bush-takes-on-obama.html?hpid=topnews


Former President George W. Bush offered a criticism of his successor yesterday in Pennsylvania. Photos by Marvin Joseph of the Washington Post and Bill Pugliano of Gettty Images.

After months of silence, former president George W. Bush launched a broad-scale critique of President Obama's approach to economic policy, national security and health care during a speech in Pennsylvania.

On the economy, Bush reiterated his belief -- espoused repeatedly during his eight years as president -- that the private sector, not the government was the key to growth. "You can spend your money better than the government can spend your money," Bush said, according to the Washington Times's Joe Curl who reported on the address to a group of local business leaders in Erie, Pa.

Bush added that his decision to ask for a massive bank bailout -- known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program or TARP -- was the result of guidance from his advisers that suggested a lack of action could bring about something akin to the Great Depression. (Many Republican members of Congress who supported the initial TARP last fall have had serious misgivings about that vote.)

On national security, Bush defended the use of harsh interrogation techniques such as waterboarding and insisted that closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay was a bad idea. "There are people at Gitmo that will kill American people at a drop of a hat and I don't believe that -- persuasion isn't going to work."

Bush also rejected the idea of "nationalizing" health care, criticizing the "public option" approach that Obama has made a pillar of his push to reform the system.

The White House, when reached this morning, had no comment on Bush's remarks.

Despite taking issue with Obama's politics, Bush made clear that he was "not going to criticize my successor." Since leaving office in January, Bush has largely retreated into the political background, settling in the Dallas area and traveling the country making speeches.

That approach, which has won plaudits from the current White House, is a marked contrast to the aggressive criticism of the Obama administration by former vice president Dick Cheney. Cheney has emerged as the leading opposition voice to Obama on national security matters, arguing that the policies put in place by the Bush Administration kept the country safe and the moves made by the new Democratic president have served to weaken the country's defenses.

Cheney's high profile has distressed many Republican strategists due to his dismal approval ratings from voters. In the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal survey, just 26 percent said they felt very or somewhat positive toward Cheney while 48 percent expressed somewhat or very negative feelings about the former vice president.

The contrast in styles between the former president and his vice president has been so noticeable that even "Saturday Night Live" poked fun at the duo.