Very interesting. Thank you!
It would be very interesting to hear from others on this---even from his detractors---if they would be forthright enough to get specific in their criticisms...something more than questions of style.
Don't get me wrong, style is not totally irrelevent at that level...but it shouldn't be everything...especially from those we look to to be setting policy in an area that is frankly 'the dismal science', after all.
Rubin had 'style', but like all things and people Clintonian, his policies were what were slowly but surely squandering the Reagan prosperity.
He has consistently failed or refused to speak forthrightly and coherently in favor of tax cuts. This may be because he doesn't believe in them, but even if it's a matter merely of inept "style" as you put it, that's a disqualifier as well, because in the public arena, when you're trying to push the president's policies, STYLE COUNTS.
A solid one-two punch
TownHall.com ^ | 11/18/02 | Larry Kudlow
Fresh off his stunning midterm election victory, President Bush wasted no time in putting his newly acquired political capital to work. First, he slammed a homeland-defense bill through the Senate. Then -- the very next day -- he said he intends to offer "new ideas" on ways to stimulate the economy.
... So, the president and the Fed chairman appear to be cooperating in the development of a new pro-growth policy mix -- supply-side tax cuts to reignite business investment and risk taking, and easier money to finance a hoped-for growth spurt. If only they could get Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill on board.
Inexplicably, O'Neill told a Fortune magazine conference that he didn't believe broad-based tax cuts are necessary. He would rather consider "targeted stimulus proposals" to help particular industries. This sounds like something from the Carter-Mondale era.
These off-the-reservation comments underscore the president's need to find a new captain for his economic ship -- someone who is completely in sync with the presidential growth package and has the communication skills to sell it to Congress and the public -- someone like New York Stock Exchange President Richard Grasso. His massive Rolodex of key financial-market players and his indefatigable can-do spirit make him an ideal choice to replace O'Neill, who's a fish out of water at the Treasury. More, such an appointment would punctuate the president's determination to move his pro-growth economic agenda forward.
Investors, of course, will wait