Juan Williams Interviews Bush

Juan Williams interviewed President Bush on NPR. I heard it on the radio but the transcript is really quite incredible reading. According to the President, an American helicopter being shot down signals that Vietnamization (oops: Iraqification) of the conflict is proceeding well:

MR. WILLIAMS: All right, Mr. President, the reports that 300 militants were killed, an American helicopter shot down yesterday in Najaf – that's one of the deadliest battles of the war, what can you tell us?

PRESIDENT BUSH: . . . this fight is an indication of what is taking place, and that is the Iraqis are beginning to take the lead, whether it be this fight that you've just reported on where the Iraqis went in with American help to do in some extremists that were trying to stop the advance of their democracy, or the report that there's militant Shia had been captured or killed. In other words, one of the things that I expect to see is the Iraqis take the lead. . .

President Bush also thinks the government response to Hurricane Katrina was fine:

MR. WILLIAMS: Let's talk for a second about the State of the Union speech. You didn't mention Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, or the Gulf Coast. A lot of people from Louisiana, including David Vitter, the Republican senator, say they regret that. Do you?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, I gave a speech that I thought was necessary to give. On the other hand, I had been talking a lot about Katrina and about the fact that I worked with the Congress to get about $110 billion sent down to both Mississippi and Louisiana to help them on their reconstruction efforts. Obviously, there is more work to be done. But to take the housing issue, for example, we have sent money down to the Louisiana folks, Louisiana Recovery Authority, to fund their plan. And the money is there and the money is available. And now it's up to the folks down there to get this plan implemented so people can start rebuilding their houses.

If there's bureaucratic slowdowns in Washington, we've got a man named Don Powell who is working to address them. But no, our response to the Katrina recovery has been very robust. And I appreciate the taxpayers of the United States helping the folks down there in Mississippi and Louisiana.

Subtext: we've spent enough; any failings are the fault of those dumb locals who haven't spent the money well. Either that or he is setting up Powell to be the new "Brownie". I guess that one of the benefits of being part of a great rich nation doesn't entail your government coming in to give an assist in a crisis.

In the News of the Weird category was the President's response on global warming:

MR. WILLIAMS: Now, also in the State of the Union, you talked about the – quote here – "the serious challenge of global climate change." Were you talking about global warming there?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Absolutely, and it's a serious challenge. And one of the things that I am proud of is this administration has done a lot on advancing new technologies that will enable us to do two things – strengthen our economy, and at the same time, be better stewards of the environment.

So President Bush cares deeply about a problem he did not publicly acknowledge until just last week. And, as always, the solution will be found (surprise!) years after he leaves office:

And I believe the goal I set, which is a very bold goal, of reducing gasoline usage by 20 percent in 10 years is an attainable goal, but it's going to require the Congress funding the research and development initiatives that I have put in my budgets. And I expect them to do so.

President Bush has even joined the Mitt Romney club of politicians who weirdly attack their home state. Apparently, his chronic inability to include the "ic" when pronouncing the name of the Democratic Party is all the fault of Texas:

So the idea that somehow I was trying to needle the Democrats, it's just – gosh, it's probably Texas. Who knows what it is. But I'm not that good at pronouncing words anyway, Juan.

At the least the last bit was certainly correct. The entire SOTU had "Look Mom, I can read!" affect to it.

Even tax increases aren't tax increases when proposed by the White House:

MR. WILLIAMS: Mr. President, you're bringing out a new budget next week, and I presume you're going to have healthcare, health insurance plan in it. To pay for some of the plan, some people who don't pay taxes on their health insurance plan now will have to pay taxes. Isn't that a tax increase for them?

PRESIDENT BUSH: No, really what it is, it's a rewriting of the tax code. We've got a tax code today that says if you get your insurance from a large employer, for example, it's part of your – it's a non-taxable event. And yet if you're an individual, like Juan Williams out there as an independent contractor, and you buy your own health insurance, you're at a tax disadvantage.

Somehow, I bet all of use who get insurance through our employers will sure notice if this benefit is now taxed. However, Bush was just building up to the real whopper of the interview:

MR. WILLIAMS: So, some people would say, well, if you believe in spending restraint, why haven't you vetoed one bill, you know, one appropriations bill?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Because the United States Congress that was controlled by Republicans exercised spending restraint.

Remember, discretionary non-defense related spending has increased by far more than during Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. Regardless of what you think of Johnson's programs, at least he was trying to help people.

And to think that President Bush ran on integrity and honesty in 1992.