Mani,
I don't think of it as a lesser of two evils. I am an extreme fiscal conservative
Fiscal conservativism has been taking a beating with this White House. 2 very important positions: Secretary of Treasure and Budget Director have people, and most people don't even know who the officeholders are and what they are doing. I think Bush will need a bomb-thrower in this position, such as Grover Norquist in the second term, or at least someone with history of fiscal conservatism amd good resume. Phil Gramm may be a good choice, IMO.
I think 2 areas where Bush can have an impact in a positive direction is in what he calls ownerships society, main thing being individual SS accounts, secondary being Medical Health Savings account. The reason these are important is that they promote individualism, individual responsibility at expense of impersonal government / Insurance industry.
These 2 areas are the main areas of Dem seduction into more state control / surrrender more of our lives to the state. Bush wisely is fighting these head on. Unfortunately, nothing happen on these last 4 years because of 9/11 and Iraq.
Bush is too much of a pragmatist, IMO, but then, he may be right. He somehow instinctively knows how to win, to win power, which is a prerequisite for achieving ones political agenda, but he has not achieved much (esides the tax cuts) of thins that you want to achieve once you have power.
I think Bush dropped the ball big time on the vouchers. We ended up with more spending, and very little to show for it, as far as liberation of people from state control.
One thing about GOP is that they do well out of power, in the wilderness. They come up with great ideas, they come back purified.
Funny thing about Dems is that being in wilderness did not make the any more pathetic than they were when they were in power.
Joe |
