the bush economy. he talked about fundamentally everything that made george bush's legacy in a sense it was a conversation not about mitt romney at all, but about george bush and barack obama. >> george b. wish has said repeatedly since he left office he was going to keep a low profile. he was going back to private lives. he doesn't think it's helpful to have former presidents involved in the election. but we do have president bush today in the middle of the campaign season releasing a book on economic policy. and making this endorsement of mitt romney while at the same time saying he can do well without me. at the same time that he did it, are we seeing sort of two sides of the coin or maybe two edges of the sword from george w. bush in terms of what he sees his legacy as in this campaign and who it attends to? >> one of the things that is important to understand about george w. bush is that while he and the people around him like to say they don't care as much about the legacy, they don't care about

bush and dick janney was george w. bush and dick cheney. the country was happy to see them go for understandable reasons. four years after the bush/cheney administration, the new republican party nominee, mitt romney, has made precisely zero public appearanced with george w. bush or dick cheney. this is still the most interesting thing in american politics. the reconstruction of the republican party post-george w. bush and post-dick cheney is as yet incomplete and still the most interesting thing to watch. hot is the new republican party going to be after that? what is the new republican party leadership going to be after them? all of this has led to some very awkward moments on the campaign trail this year for the republican party's new nominee. the first president bush is much more highly regarded than his son is. but he is a little older and a little unpredictable in public now. previously, that has manifested as some unexpected crying jags at public speeches and things. nothing that would harm his image, but there's an element of unpred

the first bulletin from bush house was back in 1941. and right now its last program is under way ending more than 70 years of broadcasting. >> in a couple minutes' time. hello and welcome to gmt i'm george with the world of news and opinion. also in the program, extra british troops drafted in to protect the olympic games. fears over whether the private contractor is up to the job. a clash between courts and religion in germany. jewish and muslim groups join forces to condemn a ruling on circumcision. >> it's 7:00 a.m. in washington. early evening in beijing and 12:00 noon here in london where bbc world service radio is set to broadcast from its iconic bush headquarters for the last time. from there it's fulfilled its historic mission. highlighted nations shall speak unto nations. let's cross now live to bush radio studio. >> i can confirm to the house that there remains no specific security threat to the games and the threat level remains unchanged. and let me resure there is no compromise. >> planners are also looking at alternative p

bush was in this too. >> bush himself was not in this. >> not in the bush administration? my notes are no good? >> your notes are very good. the problem with it is that this money was dispatched by the obama administration. >> all right. so let's blame it all on bank bk obama. here's the vision. we're going to build an electric car in finland that's going to come back with the windmills. are they going to ship them back together. >> you've got a logistics issues there and the collision of factors. they were going to build them in delaware. >> what's finland? delaware is not close to finland. >> finland is the big money car. that's the hundred grand job. the volkswagen, if you will, of electric cars, i guess we can't say that any more, what would be the model, but anyway, the volkswagen of electric cars was going toe the delaware built car, but they shut that plant down later. >> why did we send money to finland? why? if you're building them in delaware, why are we sending it to finland. >> they give it to fisker, that's the way it is. >> so the money goes over there and th

bush institute, mrs. bush continues her work on global health care innovations, and powering women in emerging democracies, education reform, and supporting the women and men who serve in america's military. in september, 2011, the bush institute, the u.s. government, una, and the susan g. komen for the care announced $85 million red rivet initiatives, a partnership to leverage our resources to combat cervical and breast cancer in developing nations. my organization care at the honor of having mrs. bush as the keynote speaker at our annual conference a couple of years ago. she was introduced them by her twin daughters, barbara and jenna, who gave one of the most touching introductions i have ever heard. they painted a fuller picture of their mother and reminded all of us of the multiple roles women balance every day in ways that are truly remarkable. as they did, i want to present to you a woman leader of great depth and accomplishment as i have noted but a woman was also a wife, and mother, and a friend

this bush tax cut has been in place for ten years.e heard you say this is not been the record ten years of job creation in america. why do we think under the higher taxes during the clinton administration we created more jobs than we are now under lower taxes? >> bill clinton did a lot of good things for the economy in a republican congress. we cut the capital gains tax to 20% po 20%. we had free trade agreements. we had fiscal discipline. what i'm saying is we should have a world class tax system that lowers tax rates. let's get rid of all the deductions rich people take. that will force them to pay higher taxes. i think you put america at a competitive disadvantage if we raise our rates on businesses when people can invest in other countries where rates are lower. >> so tell me this then. if we just make this a fair conversation about whether or not you should raise rates on everybody or not on everybody, you are one of these guys who believes, not just in low taxes, but that the deficit is crushing. actually fareed agrees with you,

president bush. of republicans are saying president bush. so as nia was talking and we see romney connected to bush, that cannot be helpful in an election year. >> i don't think it will be helpful. they haven't exactly been pulling george w. bush out of hiding to come and campaign for him. >> you noticed. >> yes, i've noticed. the thing we haven't talked about is deficits. all along the republicans have been campaigning as if they're the ones who want to close the deficits. the truth of the matter is the bush tax cuts as you pointed out before, exploded the deficits. the clinton tax increase led to surpluses. we had the first surplus in generations. the president now is trying to have balanced program. he's trying to make investments. he's trying to make sure middle class and working people can spend money to boost the economy. and he's saying the people who had the big party under bush, they need to pay so we can start to deal with deficits in the future. >> and it is a proven fact any number of eco

bush tried to push through. lower taxes, fewer regulations, more domestic energy production, promises of deficit reduction that are overwhelmed by increased defense spending and reduced tax revenues and panting rhetoric about economic freedom pretty much defined the bush administration's economic policy. and how did that economic policy work out? it was a disaster. this graph is by david leon hart of the "the new york times." it looks at five-year growth periods since 1955. the two periods that span the bush years are '01 to oectionz 06 and 2010, coming in dead last. the jobs graph was much better. this graph from the center for american progress compares job growth under bush's business cycle and under the preceding business cycles and gives bush a handicap. it doesn't count '08 when the financial crisis and recession begin. but even with the handicap, the bush years again perform poorly. you see them there on the right? they're the small bars. and note that the graph, again, it ends before the financial crisis

bush on the campaign trail? >> obama is still blaming bush. he's afraid to take responsibility. >> former president bush says america wouldn't remember much about his presidency. here it is. >> 20 years from now, i'm going to be just a name. and a number, 43. i'll have had a record, i will have had to deal with 9/11 and the financial meltdown. but people will all forget, you know, what old 43 was like. >> what about that bush legacy, krystal? >> i think he's diluting himself. we're going to remember. >> it put us in a financial hole. the list goes on. >> the fiscal situation we're in right now is because of bush, because of medicare part d, because of the tax cuts, because of the wars. >> if nothing else, he would be remembered as the president at the time of 9/11. that alone is such an important part of our history. >> august 6th presidential briefing, they will look at that, he didn't respond to what people were telling him what was happening to the country. he did not get bin laden. he disbanded the unit looking for him. the tax cuts have h

bush a handicap. doesn't count '08 when the financial crisis and recession began, but even when the handicap, the bush years performed poorly. see that on the right, they are the small bars. note the graph again. it ends before the financial crisis. a financial crisis that is at least partially attributed to the let the banks do whatever they want. they would never crash the financial system, would they? attitude that dominated in the bush and, to be fair, in the clinton years. once you add that in, bush has the worst record since herbert hoover. poverty, uninsurance, new firm creation, participation in the labor force, every one goes in the wrong direction, and yet romney can't explain how his policies differ. one of my frustrations with campaign coverage is there's a tendency to look at real failings, substantiative efficiencies as problems. romney needs a better answer to the question of, how do you differ from george w. bush? it is not a messaging problem. romney doesn't need a better answer, he n

complained i wish they weren't called the bush tax cuts.body's tax cuts, they're probably less likely to be raised. in just a few minutes, president obama will remind the country that the debate over whether to end the $1.3 trillion tax cuts ain't going away any time soon, no matter what you call them. it's monday, july 9th and this is "now." joining me today, "rolling stone" executive editor, eric bates. rana foroohar of "time" magazine, david chalian and political reporter for the "new york times" nicholas confessore. nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker joins us from the white house. tell us about the event we are about to witness. >> reporter: good afternoon to you. president obama sort of reigniting an old debate here about those bush era tax cuts that you just mentioned. in just a few moments, he is going to be speaking from the east room, pressing congress to extend the bush era tax cuts for one year for families making less than $250,000. this event really allows him to pivot away from last week's disappointing jobs rep

i mean i don't think it's dangerous i think it's seems dangerous in comparison to bush because bush was so bad at communicating any of his thoughts or ideas i think any president should be as good as obama and convincing the people that his policies are the right policies now whether or not you're convinced that's for you as a voter to decide and to actually parse through the words and determine if these policies are right for you i think obama's keeping the average american voter on their toes where we're not even on their toes just like standing on their feet whereas whereas bush was just like you know we could just sit back and laugh and so i don't think it's dangerous i think it's like the bare minimum of what a leader should be able to do is to. just dangers in the sense that he essentially is continuing a lot of those policies that most considered a danger to this country and a danger to our civil liberties but what but as a whole. what do you know what are the what's the most funny thing that you think about comedians just. to poke fun at really. i mean his stunning falsetto. you

bush and what they inherited? >> i wouldn't blame president bush but i would continue to point out i said earlier, andrea, it's good for people to remember that we were losing 750,000 jobs a month when the president took over. that's what he's inherited. though 84,000 may not sound like much in terms of a gain, it's a whole lot better than losing 750,000. i think he's doing the right thing there. he's also doing the right thing in stressing his jobs bill. his jobs bill contained 11 separate components, almost all of which republicans had supported in the past, and they essentially stonewalled him and stopped any progress from things that were like $50 billion of spending on infrastructure we know creates well-paying jobs on the construction sites and back in our factories, and it's hard to understand why they would obstruct that type o initiative. >> what about the tax cuts? michael steele, do you think the republicans really have a great talking point when they talk about tax cuts for millionaires in this economy

get all the bush tax rates made permanent.ro growth economic policies then all of these americans could stay. >> all that money she gave bill clinton, she ought to transfer it to chuck schumer and maybe he would lower marginal tax rate to promote growth. >> it points to a real serious schism in the democrat party. i do talk about this in the book. >> cut the capital gains tax to his credit. >> and cut spending to his credit. >> and welfare reform. >> right. and reined in government. >> no moderate democrats left. >> not in obama's america. taken over by the kooks. read the book. >> anyway, that's it for tonight's show. monica crowley, thank you. i'll be live from washington. special guest, house republican majority leader eric cantor, alan greenspan. as always, thanks for watching. my volt is the best vehicle i've ever driven. i bought the car because of its efficiency. i bought the car because i could eliminate gas from my budget. i don't spend money on gasoline. it's been 4,000 miles since my last trip to the gas station. it

bush.l record of republican decisions and those are all decisions from tax policy to the reduction of a social safety net to foreign policy that looks precisely like the record that mitt romney wants to run on. >> are we getting close to a point where romney starts positiveting to defending bush/cheney w all of the advisers, the dick cheney thing, the float of the condoleezza rice thing, which i can't say is from the romney campaign, are they getting close to saying the bush sla bush/chaina years are good years? >> i don't think 13% approval for dick cheney -- >> that's where he was when he left office. >> we saw the bumper stickers, do you miss me yet? i think the re-sounding -- >> everybody is like, no. >> no, in fact, no. >> no, thanks for asking. >> exactly. >> melissa harris perry, thank you for being here. the new melissa harris' her perry so is weekends, 10:00 a.m. >> the man turning out the be the strangest senator in washington is still refusing to do an interview on this show, but

complained i wish they weren't called the bush tax cuts.body's tax

bush presidency, the bush/cheney years were bad years for us as a country. the national ubunemployment rate went from a little over 4% when he took office to nearly 8% by the time he left. we went from a budget surplus of more than $200 billion to a budget deficit of more than a trillion dollars. after decades of u.s. household income climbing during the 1980s and 1990s, it fell off a cliff in the bush years. after poverty declined in the 1980s and declined in the 1990s, in the bush years, it went up. by the time he left office, 6 million more americans were added to the rolls of americans who didn't have health insurance. wall street in the bush years collapsed. the country was plunged into the worst depression since the great depression in the 1930s. the bush/cheney years were a disaster. they were also a series of embarrassments. remember when they were going to but harriet miers on the supreme court, bernie carrick in charge of homeland security, remember him, before he went to jail? remember when they troled the reject list of interns from the heritage

bush aide and political director.ll tell you two things. 46-46 in gallup among registered voters could be obama's number. 46%. in incumbents are below 50 that could be the number he gets. in other words, a landslide against him. number two, under all the numbers is the economy. that's going to decide the election. that's where the independents are going to break. what do you think? am i right? >> i think you're right. the problem for the president is that this uptick in unemployment is coming at the exact worst time for him. what we see in the numbers, i believe, is that mitt romney is lower than he should be for a couple of reasons. he isn't well known by the public. that will happen at the convention. [ laughter ] >> okay. >> second, he has to put definition on his economic plan. he does those things and the race will break open. >> okay. keith boykin, you're laughing. i love it when you laugh. we love humor on the show. but everybody in the country knows barack obama. if he's still at 46%, what does that tell you,

did you vote for president bush? would you agree? >> guest: let's get a response from our guests. >> guest: if i like clinton or bush, the clinton batter. i think you're missing the point here, and a tea party again is not republican. i personally don't consider myself to be a republican. i think most are independent. some are republican because they are conservatives and republican is more likely conservatives and then the democrat party at this moment in history. i am not here to defend the republican party and neither is tea party movement. i think you are confusing the are confusing republicanism a tea party is on. >> host: but many agree the analysis the college is made of the bush president? >> guest: i cannot tell you how many have been to rate their frail as arguably against president bush and his failure to carry the mantle of limited government as they did against president obama. i mean, they have no sympathy or wish to bring president bush back. >> host: what did you find out about the tea party and money? >> guest: i don

right now we're talking about the bush era tax cuts. >> that's part of it.li, that is part of the increase in the taxes is the capital gains dividends and small business taxes and all is one package. >> you perhaps unwisely admitted that you were watching fareed and me have a discussion so you will remember the time at which we created more jobs in the recent past was when our tax rates were substantially higher than they were now. this tax cut, this bush era tax cut has been in place for ten years and i have heard you say this has not been the record ten years of job creation in america. why is it that we think under higher taxes during the clinton administration we created more jobs than we are doing now under lower taxes? >> well, look, bill clinton did a lot of good things for the economy and a republican congress. we cut the deficit, cut spending, didn't increasing like you were talking about, cut the capital gains tax to 20%. we had free trade agreements. we had fiscal discipline. i am not saying that all that matters for the economy is low taxes. what

bush. obama needed to figure out what he was going to do in the wake of the bush presidency. the other george, less obvious, would be mcgovern. the republicans ever since the george mcgovern campaign of 1972 has been kind of a republican truth that the republicans can fall back on election time even when it isn't necessarily true that the democrats are weak on defense. and the fact that this isn't true shows up over and over again at the time of the persian gulf war the shock and awe of american high-tech weaponry that we saw at the beginning of the war actually was developed in the late 1970's in the pentagon of jimmy carter under a guy with a high-tech background named william perry. democrats and repblicans have both been familiar with issues and the use of force, and it's not a black and white democrats weak on defense issue. so the problem in writing this book was the had all worked aside one another in one administration after another. when i began talking to the obama foreign policy team, one of the most surprising things i found was the underlining generational tensio

bush 41 seems to look better and better with time, and the appreciation, you think sat fair? >> absolutely. >> rose: or right? >> absolutely. i think it is fair and right. >> rose: and also violates the idea that, you know, it is only a second term if you get a second term will you be seen in a positive light. >> it is a long-term vindication argument. and i think the great example of this is harry truman, who left washington a step ahead of the sheriff in 1953 and as the years went by people began to rediscover him and appreciate him. i think that has happened with george h.w. bush, i think that is something to do with his son's performance. >> and the second term. >> rose: and you think so too? >> no comment. >> ha, ha, ha, ha. >> as your advisor, i would say yes. >> thank you, doris. my attorney in boston. >> i think you may want to go back to the well? >> but. >> nancy gibbs and mike duffy our friend at time magazine have a new book coming on the club, the president's club about the former presidents, and it is quite true when you have the great good fortune to talk to pr