Noted economist Bruce Bartlett fired from the National Center for Policy Analysis for criticizing Bush policies
By Aussiegirl
It's not nice to cross the Bush administration. Ask Saddam Hussein. Or you could ask Bruce Bartlett, who just got fired for the unpardonable sin of having disagreed with the president's economic policy in his forthcoming book. I thought these think tanks were independent. I guess not. Can airbrushing official photographs be far behind in these wholesale party purges? This is absolutely despicable. If only the president would go after his political enemies with the same venom and spite that he uses against fellow Republicans.
It is obvious that only toadies and sycophants need apply -- as evidenced by the nomination of the non-entity, Harriet Miers. Evidently, Bruce Bartlett didn't gaze adoringly at Bush and declare him "the most brilliant man I have ever met".
Bartlett may have the last laugh, however, as his book is going to be published in February rather than April, and the production has been increased by 40%. I heartily suggest if you disapprove of such disgraceful actions that you run to Amazon and pre-order your own copy of the book. I have already done so and can't wait to do a review on UT. Hat tip to Tim Birdnow over at Birdblog who picked this up from The Federalist. Click here to buy the book
Birdblog: "Bruce Bartlett, a noted economist, Treasury Department official under Bush(41) and senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, was fired from the think tank this week after the Bush administration got an advance copy of his forthcoming book, "Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy". It seems the muting of political speech under so-called 'campaign finance reform' was not an anomaly. Consequently, Bartlett's publisher has increased first-run production by 40 percent and moved up the book's release date to February. If this is how the administration plans to temper criticism of its spending problems, Karl Rove isn't the genius we've always taken him to be."
posted by Aussiegirl @ 2:28 PM
3 Comments:
This is certainly a worrisome, even frightening, turn of events! I too thought the whole point of think tanks was to be independent, so that all sorts of feet could be trod on with the purpose of arriving at a good, well thought-out and -through solution to some problem. I guess King George II doesn't like to be called an imposter. Also, in Bush's vocabulary, "think tank" must mean that if you think the wrong thoughts, you'll wind up in the tank. I agree that all of a sudden he may find himself airbrushed out of photographs, have his cat mysteriously vanish, and realize that a lot of cars with Arkansas license plates and creepy looking drivers are lurking around his home. My only advice to Bartlett is: watch your back!
Sounds exactly like a repeat of the last Bush President. The difference is that Bush 1 purged conservatives from the party as soon as he was sworn in. they were in control and ruled with an iron grip. remember th 96 convention? They snubed the Govenor of Cal (Pete Wilson) because he was a strong Reagan man.
As I saw a comment last week
"The apple does not fall far from the tree."
We have another liberal Bush President. Look out in 06 and 08 if you are Republican.
Seeing how far to the left W has gone the last 7 months I am amazed he stayed so close to the center from 01 - 04. Now that he can not be reelected he shows how liberal he really is. He tricked us all in 04 but gave us no treats; only bigger government.
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