Bush Economic Aide Says Government Lacks Vision
"Commerce can't do it on its own," said Frank Vargo, vice president of international affairs and economic policy at the National Association of Manufacturers, which generally has supported the Bush administration. "It has to be an interagency effort."
Bodman's sentiment also feeds into a growing discontent with White House policymaking, even among conservatives. Bruce Bartlett, an economist with the conservative National Center for Policy Analysis, said the administration policy apparatus has become too centralized in the White House, with too little interagency cooperation or even input from the Cabinet departments -- the essence of "stove-piping."
"Those comments were amazing," Bartlett said. "Remember the old line, 'A gaffe is created when somebody speaks the truth?' I think [Bodman's] right."
Bodman did not respond to a call seeking comment on his remarks. But White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said Bodman was referring broadly to the nature of government, not specifically to the operations of the Bush administration.
"There's no question the government has been historically associated with bureaucracy," she said. "The president recognizes that, and he's undertaken an aggressive management agenda, to rethink government so it's not bureaucracy focused."
Commerce Department spokesman Ron Bonjean cautioned that Bodman made his remarks before Commerce officials embarked on a 20-city tour to elicit the views of manufacturers on how to address their problems. The agency is expected to issue a detailed manufacturing initiative in January.
Bodman's "view is that the private sector knows best how to grow their companies and create high-quality U.S. jobs. The role of government is to create the right environment to help them succeed," Bonjean said.
When Bodman spoke at the symposium in June, private-sector participants in the Commerce forum on manufacturing did not appear optimistic about government help, according to the transcript. NAM's Vargo told the group, "It's not clear to me that the Commerce Department and its role in the government and the way the government perceives manufacturing and the U.S. role in the world economy is adequately incorporated into the structure of the government that we can make the kind of changes necessary."
Jim Zawacki, chief executive of G.R. Spring & Stamping Inc. in Michigan, challenged another Commerce Department official's positive spin of administration intentions, the transcript shows.
In an interview yesterday, Zawacki, a self-described strong Bush supporter, recalled that Bodman looked "very discouraged" at the meeting and left participants feeling the same.
"It's not a Bush thing," Zawacki said. "It's not a Clinton thing. There is no vision in this government, and what vision there is lasts two years. It's called the next election." |
