Here's an interesting new book from a former member of the Reagan White House...
amazon.com
Impostor : How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy (Hardcover)
by Bruce Bartlett
Availability: This title will be released on February 28, 2006. You may order it now and we will ship it to you when it arrives. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly:
Liberal commentators gripe so frequently about the current administration that it's become easy to tune them out, but when Bartlett, a former member of the Reagan White House, says George W. Bush has betrayed the conservative movement, his conservative credentials command attention. Bartlett's attack boils down to one key premise: Bush is a shallow opportunist who has cast aside the principles of the "Reagan Revolution" for short-term political gains that may wind up hurting the American economy as badly as, if not worse than, Nixon's did. As part of a simple, point-by-point critique of Bush's "finger-in-the-wind" approach to economic leadership, Bartlett singles out the Medicare prescription drug bill of 2003— "the worst piece of legislation ever enacted"—as a particularly egregious example of the increases in government spending that will, he says, make tax hikes inevitable. Bush has further weakened the Republican Party by failing to establish a successor who can run in the next election, Bartlett says. If the Reaganites want to restore the party's tradition of fiscal conservatism and small government, he worries, let alone keep the Democrats out of the White House, they will have their work cut out for them. (Feb.)
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Review
“Bruce Bartlett is no impostor. He’s the real thing – a reality-based conservative who searches for supportable truths and then speaks them loudly and clearly. How refreshing, and old fashioned, and courageous. May his lot increase.”
—Ron Suskind, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Price of Loyalty
“Bruce Bartlett has long been one of Washington’s most searching, thoughtful, and uncompromisingly candid economic analysts. That’s a view shared not only by those who agree with him, but also by people like me, who differ with him about 80 percent of the time. This book is a perfect reflection of Bruce’s gifts: he cares far more about being honest and consistent than about following anyone’s party line. It will shape our political discussion into 2008.”
—E. J. Dionne Jr., author of Stand Up Fight Back and Why Americans Hate Politics
“While I don't agree with Bruce Bartlett very often, he is always worth paying attention to. Bartlett's loyalty is to his conservative ideas, not to the Republican Party. That loyalty has not come cheaply. Bartlett lost his job in order to write this book. The least you can do is read it.”
—Jonathan Chait, senior editor at The New Republic and columnist for the Los Angeles Times |
