Bush
is indeed the right man
I recently reviewed the outstanding bestseller, The Right
Man, by David Frum, the first “insider’s”
account of the Bush White House. Frum, an excellent journalist
and erudite thinker, concluded that George W. Bush was,
and is, a strong leader, a man of vision and the right person
at the right time to lead the U.S. at this moment in history.
Recent events have borne these assessments out to be absolutely
true.
As evidence, let’s first look at President Bush’s
current $726 billion economic stimulus plan. It is an incredibly
bold and ambitious plan that is, naturally, being attacked
by Keynesians of all political stripes. In his tax package,
Mr. Bush is recommending abolishing the federal tax on dividends,
reducing the capital gains tax, and accelerating the income
tax cuts that were enacted in 2001. The current dividend
tax is 39% for top earners in this country. Since federal
income taxes were first imposed in 1913, no major tax increase
has ever been abolished. The significance of this can’t
be stressed enough.
The plan is bold precisely because the cuts are aimed primarily
at the top earners, the wealthy, the investors, i.e., the
producers. Still, if the latest proposal is enacted—which
it probably won’t be, or either will be significantly
watered down—the top 5% of income earners, who earn
33% of all income, will continue to pay 55% of all personal
income taxes at the federal level. That is an atrocity and
is totally unjust. It also undermines prosperity.
However, Mr. Bush should be praised for these promising
moves in his economic policy. He certainly shows much greater
knowledge of the markets than his father and many of his
own advisors such as the new head of the National Economic
Council, Stephen Friedman, a liberal who never met a tax
he didn’t like.
President Bush has also shown great courage and resolve
(or what his critics call arrogance) by sticking to his
principles in defending the United States. Against the hand-wringing
and irrelevancy of the United Nations, Mr. Bush and, most
prominently, Donald Rumsfeld, forged ahead in their promise
to attack our enemies. Perhaps now the world and this country
may finally start nailing the terrorists in the Middle East,
thus eradicating the fear they have spread for far too long.
Moral certainty, even more than military might, is what
we need to defeat these barbarians and thugs. President
Bush has shown such certainty, standing up to the global
cesspool of collectivism which is the United Nations.
I’m proud to have George W. Bush as my president.
I do have disagreements with many of his positions and am
unclear about his stance on others. But at this pivotal
point in history he is a breath of fresh, rational air in
a world reeking of relativism, tolerance toward religious
terrorists and pansy, pacifist Europeans, (with the notable
exception of Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair who
is also a hero in my book. His braveness and dedication
to the United States is nothing short of magnificent and
we owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude. Tom Daschle and
Nancy Pelosi could take lessons from Mr. Blair).
Terrorists attack what this country stands for, literally.
Our own university professors—with incredibly rare
exceptions—attack what this country stands for. Repeatedly
in our country’s history, we have apologized for our
greatness and wealth, all the while footing the bill for
every other two-bit dictator and nation in the world, thus
paying the way for our very critics. Maybe now, with our
military decimating Iraq and our President showing moral
certainty, the world will think twice before ever attempting
another attack on these shores.
Bully on the international block? No. The greatest and possibly
final embodiment of all things civilized, intellectual,
rational, decent, tolerant and productive: this is what
the United States—for all of her many faults and errors—still
remains as today. The fact that George W. Bush realizes
this is inspiring and comforting. He is indeed the right
man. DBJ
JACK
CRISS
DBJ Executive Editor
