And so the Clinton era ends, as it began and as it sustained itself, with a shabby lie:
<<Bush Says He's Trying to Be Realist on Economy
December 21, 2000 6:57 pm EST
By Steve Holland
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - President-elect George W. Bush on Thursday rejected White House criticism that he is "talking down" the U.S. economy for partisan gain, saying he is being a realist by pointing out warning signs.
"One of my responsibilities is to anticipate problems and be prepared to act should they occur," Bush told reporters. "And were this economy to ... continue to slow down, when I assume the office of the presidency I'll be prepared to act."
The White House reacted with outrage at Bush's warning on Wednesday of a "possible slowdown" in the economy, even though there is now clear evidence of that occurring.
Consumer confidence is down and retailers are reporting poor Christmas sales. Some automakers have temporarily idled plants. In the third quarter of this year, economic growth was at 2.2 percent, its slowest pace in four years. And the tech-heavy NASDAQ stock market has been in free-fall.
Disrupting what otherwise has been an amicable transition between Bush and President Clinton, White House economic adviser Gene Sperling accused Bush of undermining the economy for short-term partisan gain and to boost a Republican tax cut plan.
"What you're seeing is President-elect Bush and his team actually talking down our economy, actually probably injecting more fear and anxiety into the economy than is justified. And I think that's a serious mistake for him," said Sperling on ABC's "Good Morning America" program.
White House spokesman Jake Siewert said it was important to be "guarded and measured" in talking about the economy, suggesting the Bush team was not.
Asked about the criticism, Bush said, "I think people are going to find out that when I am sworn in as president, I'll be a realist. And if there are warning signs on the horizon, we need to pay attention to them."
PROMOTING CLINTON LEGACY
Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett linked the strong White House reaction to its attempt to ballyhoo the president's economic legacy. "This is a period where they're talking about the president's legacy, and that's fine," he said.
As the two sides bickered over the economy, Bush formally resigned as governor of Texas and emphasized his education reform agenda in a roundtable discussion with bipartisan members of Congress.
"There is only one thing that would cause me to leave early, and that is to become the president," Bush said in an emotional resignation speech at the Texas state capitol.
Though he was leaving the governor's mansion, "I'll always be a Texan," Bush said, sounding choked up. Republican Lt. Gov. Rick Perry was later sworn in as Bush's successor.
The next round of Cabinet announcements was planned for Friday. Two separate events were planned.
Republican sources said New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman could be announced on Friday as the next administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, a job she has accepted.
In addition, they said, Virginia Gov. James Gilmore, whose term ends next year, has been tapped by Bush to be chairman of the Republican National Committee, and this could be announced on Friday.
A source close to Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson said he has accepted Bush's offer to become secretary of the Health and Human Services Department even though he would prefer to be transportation secretary.
Thompson, at a public appearance on Thursday, cast some doubt on it saying he would have a decision when he returns from a Mexico vacation next week.
Montana Gov. Marc Racicot took himself out of the running for attorney general on Wednesday, leaving the job possibly for Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating or Missouri Republican Sen. John Ashcroft, who lost his re-election bid.
The Bush transition announced that Stephen Hadley would be deputy national security adviser. He is an arms control expert and was an assistance secretary of defense when Vice President-elect Dick Cheney was defense secretary.
"COUNTER-OFFENSIVE HAS BEGUN"
Clinton considers the economy, in its longest expansion, the crowning achievement of his presidency, and Sperling's comments appeared to signal a larger effort to defend Clinton's record and avoid being blamed for a slowdown. "The counter-offensive has begun," said one administration official.
Cheney, during a fence-mending visit in Washington with his defeated counterpart, Democrat Joe Lieberman, said the Bush team has tried to be precise and accurate in its statements and that Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan has expressed similar views.
"We don't want to talk down the economy clearly and I think both President-elect Bush and myself have tried to be cautious in that regard, but there does seem to be a lot of evidence out there" of a slowdown, Cheney said.
In Austin, Bush sat down with a bipartisan group of members of Congress for talks about education then later discussed the same subject with Latino leaders from around the country.
Bush wants to increase accountability in public schools to improve test scores and would use taxpayer-funded subsidies -- called vouchers -- to help parents pay to put their children into private schools if their public schools are failing.
Democrats from Clinton down consistently oppose the voucher idea as a sellout of the public school system. Lieberman, a U.S. senator from Connecticut, said he doubted the idea could pass any time soon.
California Democratic Rep. George Miller said Bush was "candid and very forceful" on what needs to be done in education and said vouchers should be a matter of "state determination.">> |
