[Mb-civic] A HOWLER: A generous Bush always thinking of others - David Martin - Boston Globe Op-Ed

[William Swiggard]

  A generous Bush always thinking of others

By David Martin  |  March 23, 2006  |  The Boston Globe

DURING A RECENT news conference, George W. Bush let it be known that the 
decision to end the US military presence in Iraq will not be his. 
Instead, according to Bush, it will be for ''future presidents" to decide.

Barely reliable sources note a possible post-conference follow-up in 
which Bush plans to leave a number of other decisions to future 
presidents, preferably Democrats.

''As far as the increasing national debt," said Bush, ''future 
presidents will have to tackle that problem."

''Given the precarious state of the economy," said the US president, 
''it would be irresponsible of me to interfere at this point in time. I 
really think it's best if someone else handles it."

Suspending tax cuts for the wealthy is another issue apparently best 
left to future presidents.

''I handed out those tax cuts," said Bush. ''So how would it look if all 
of a sudden I took them back? Again, I think it's better that someone 
new make that decision."

The end of the war on terror has also been deferred.

''My speech-writers tell me that it's unrealistic to expect a war on a 
concept to end any time soon," said President Bush. ''So I'll leave that 
one to a future president to deal with as well."

When questioned about his administration's ill-fated prescription drug 
plan, Bush again deferred.

''It's obviously way too early to do something about that," said the 
president. ''Tinkering with the plan now could make the situation even 
worse. Best to let some future president try to fix it."

Gulf Coast residents hoping to get some immediate hurricane relief will 
also have to wait for another day.

''The worst thing to do at this point is to throw more money at the 
problem," said Bush. ''Better to wait a few years and see where help is 
really needed. Then some future president can clean up the mess."

Asked how he intends to spend his remaining political capital, the 
president said that he would not be undertaking any major new 
initiatives in the next two years. ''Let's face it," said Bush. 
''Anything I tried to do now would just need to be fixed up by some 
future president anyway. I think it's best for the nation if I just do 
nothing."

David Martin is author of the satiric collection ''My Friend 'W'."

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/03/23/a_generous_bush_always_thinking_of_others/
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