Bush has pursued the most aggressively low tax agenda of my lifetime. He surely deserves credit for that.
In my experience, someone who invokes "Goldwater" and "personal freedom" in the same sentence is often that most bizarre and illogical of political animals: a socially liberal fiscal conservative. Most Log Cabin Republicans are socially liberal fiscal conservatives.
A socally liberal fiscal conservative is quite willing to accept the complete and utter devastation of traditional social values and structures in the name of "personal freedom." However, he insists that he can do it without having to pay a price.
Socially liberal fiscal conservatism is the small government variation of the "something for nothing" scam that liberal Democrats play in promoting the welfare state. But socially liberal fiscal conservatives are less honest or more deluded than their socially liberal fiscal liberal brethren. The latter freely admit that that their "personal freedom" and demands will cost the rest of us a lot of money. That's why they love high taxes.
A socially liberal fiscal conservative usually isn't for "small government" in achieving his impossible goal either. For example, he usually favors new laws that force everyone else to adjust their lives and businesses to accommodate his favored social diseases. The social disease du jour is same sex marriage.
Good points