and that's why the bush institute, i think, has been founded, because president bush has had a curiosity about economics throughout his life x it's benefited us all. basically, what we have to do is just stop doing the wrong things, and there are three things in my chapter that i talk about that we could do to really turn the country around. the first is to get tax policy right, we're not doing it. right now we're the highest corporate tax country in the developed world, we're the third highest on earth. there are two countries that are less friendly for new businesses than the u.s. on earth, that's guyana and the congo. [laughter] but after those two, you know, we're the least friendly place. and i summarize in the chapter a bunch of research that shows if we could just sort of fix the stupid things that we're doing, then you could add about a percent of growth to gdp growth over the next decade, and we're probably starting around 2-3. and then the second thing is right now we owe a huge amount to foreigners and are running massive deficits bigger than a trig dollars a year. if you want

gorbachev was reaching out to bush did bush take that olive branch that gorbachev was giving him no very much different what do we do instead we applaud the soviets for not invading when countries were liberating themselves from the soviet union and then we immediately go and we invade panama and then we invade iraq and so we're saying that that's great that's great that you show restraint but we're not going to because we're the. as madeleine albright secretary of state under clinton says if the united states use for if we use force it's because we're the united states of america we're the in this nation she said we see father and stand taller than other nations that's the attitude that oliver and i are challenging the sense of american exceptionalism united states is the city upon the hill god's gift to humanity if we do it it's right and that's not acceptable it's very early as we go from you know. we have been the book has been out a few weeks the series has been played for the fifth week now and will be ten weeks in all we go to t.v. shows and we sit in these beautiful sets and they

the bush tax cuts, the bush wars, the bush deficits, the bush housing crisis. for better or worse. afghanistan, iraq. it is a remarkable amount of influence george bush had. >> so do you mean better or worse in terms of his legacy when history looks back at it? >> he failed miserably when it came to deficits. and, i'm sorry, nobody can judge what's going to happen in the middle east for another five, ten years. you have no idea how that's going to shake out. i was surprised he didn't say that he would have not gone to war if he'd known saddam had weapons of mass destruction, but that debate again continues. >> and his influence lingers as a result of those wars and the fact that no one, none of us were asked to pay for them. >> no doubt. >> we've got number 1 straight ahead. i'm excited. will somebody call casey kasem and tell him to phone home? we're counting down the hits, and we're coming to number 1. >> coming up, america's choice for the number 1 most influential american of the 21s century. and how did we do in our predictions? this is going to get ugly.

let the bush tax cuts expire. make sure the middle class doesn't have to pavement the schif a manufactured media drama. >> laura: wow, can you say out of touch? joining us now from new york is maxwell a democratic strategist and guy benson the political editor for "town hall.com." okay. this is quite something. we have been hearing from the obama white house, the congressional budgetffice and any number of conservative economistst that this is serious. that we have got to get this thing done that we have got to get it in order. or at some point america's full faith and credit is going to go away. we are not going to look so good to the rest of the world as far as credit risk. so let's talk to you about this. is this a manufactured media crisis or does something substantial need to be done here? >> well, i certainly think that the fiscal cliff, that language is a manufactured media narrative. that americans believe on january 1 we are going to be standing in line for bread. that's not going to happen this is all be

bush would not have been that relaxed two years ago even though president bush did his best to make the president relax. but there is a learning curve. every president seems to walk in saying i'm the first who did this. i cracked the code. i'm smarter than everybody else. you guys just go home. then they find themselves two years later going i can't call my friends. they don't get it. i can't call my campaign people. they don't get it. then it hits them. they've got to call the guy that they had contempt for two years ago. >> dial the club. it's almost like there's a special number. and usually each president who comes in finds one other president who he can somehow rel to, connect with, trust. and comes to trust them over and over again. >> you said two years. it can be two months. kennedy calls eisenhower after the bay of pigs and they go off to camp david together to talk about what happened and kennedy says, you know, no one knows how tough it is until you've been in it for a few months. eisenhower sort of shakes his head and said, forgive me, mr. president, i tried to warn you abou

bush was forced to withdraw the nomination. in december 2008, shortly before leaving office, the job approval rating sunk to miserable 27%. congress was a thorn in the side of second-term presidents. it's a question of whether president obama forges a closer working relationship with congress this time around and then the second-term scandal. clinton dom natded and ended after a year because lewinski scandal began. congressional investigation and impeachment and then completely derailed any agenda he hoped to push in that second four years. >> i have to go back to work on my state of the union speech. and i worked on it until pretty late last night. but i want to say one thing to the american people. i want you to listen to me. i'm going to say this again. i did not have sexual relations with that woman. miss lewinski. >> though ronald reagan pushed through a tax overhaul in the second term he also became embroiled in the iran-contra affair. >> a few months ago i told the american people i did not trade arms for hostages. my he

bush and wrote four books on him. there was not a lot of mystery about what bush felt. >> he was a gut player. >> yes. as he said, his job was to put some calcium in the spine. >> but i think obama is a little bit more of an uncertain figure. quite frankly, i think when he writes his own autobiography, about his time as president and there is more excavation of all of this, we are going to discover that he is working it out as he plays of the game. and as somebody with a little bit more experience, under their belt might not be doing that. >> some of the comments you made about president obama, including what you just said, there seems to be a subtext that you are a little bit disappointed or under whelmed. >> i would not say disappointed. it goes to the question about what is our job in the news media. our job is not to be cheerleaders. politico specializes in this. not in a hostile, negative way. you are asking and raising questions. that is the job. look. what has happened in the last many decades in the presidency

well you goes on to add cuba to that list and well that was in the bush era back in the bush era era and here we are today weeks away from president obama's inauguration to his second term as president in the nobel peace prize winner campaigned under the promise of hope and change and presented himself as the anti bush our iran policy is a complete failure right now and that's the policy that john mccain is running on he has nothing to offer except the naive and irresponsible belief the tough talk from washington will somehow cause iran to give up its nuclear program and support for terrorism i'm running for president to change course not to continue george bush's course well despite the promise about the country on a different track than his predecessor is he really much different we've heard some of the same fears echoed in the obama administration these past few weeks listen to secretary of defense leon panetta saying almost the exact same thing as former ambassador bolton when it comes to syria harboring weapons whole world watching very closely and the president i would say she'

the irs is going to use the bush cut, the dreaded bush tax cuts. the richest 1% paid $84 billion inflation adjusted dollars more between 2000 and 2007. that's a rise of 23%. in other words, their tax rates went down. and their tax revenues went up. now, isn't mr. obama making a mistake? >> well, the rich are paying more in taxes because the rich are disproportionately receiving most of the income in this country. the reality, larry, is that in my lifetime we've actually only raised income tax rates three times. once in 1969 to pay for the vietnam war. once in 1990 when george h. bush recanted his read my lips pledge and once in 1993 when president clinton raised taxes and each time federal revenue increased. the one time when we actually cut taxes in recent memory in 2001, in 2001 but especially in 2001 federal revenue did decrease. it's a basic arithmetic between raising taxes and raising revenue. >> steve that's not what the irs shows. that's what's interesting about the tread bush tax cuts that mr. obama wants to repeal in the upper end. i'm not

bush who is hospitalized in houston, texas. doctors moved president bush to the intensive care unit after a series of setbacks including a fever and cough that were not going away. the president is the oldest live willing former leader of our nation at age 88. but today in his e-mail to his staff he suggested the president is not on his death bed. he said "president bush would ask me to tell you to please put the harps back in the closet." randy wallace from our fox station kriv fox 26 live outside the hospital there in houston. randy, what is the latest on the president's condition? >>> well, we heard kind of conflicting things all day today. it was on sunday when former president bush was put into the intensive care unit here at meth though difficult hospital. methodist hospital. he was admitted here for bronchitis on november 7 and on november 19 released. the day after thanksgiving he was readmitted to the hospital and has been here ever since. doctors thought that the president would be home for christmas but when they fin

president bush got hammered.ublicans lost 30 seats in the house, six in the senate and control of both houses were gone from the republicans. the 1998 election was the only time a two-term president saw gains. in addition two-term presidents typically have one really bad midterm and one not so bad. truman was much worse in '46 than in '50. reagan, split decision after losing big in the house and gaining a senate seat in 1982, republicans lost seven seats in '86 and control, but did better in the house. so, let's take a look at our next one. the two most recent examples of midterms, bill clinton's democrats lost 54 house senates and 8 senate seats in '94 before turning the tables in '98. the party said the '98 result was due in part, maybe in whole, due to the public backlash against republicans who seemed too focused on the lewinsky scandal rather than governing. president bush saw the opposite a great midterm, not so great second one. republicans grained ground under push in 2002. before losing big in 2006. what

truman, eisenhower, reagan, clinton, and bush.ng truman because even though he wasn't elected in 1944, he took over after fdr died just three months into his term. nixon is out before he resigned before the second midterm shellacking. let's put up the numbers. in truman's second term, let's take a look here, as you can see, in that midterm in 9050, his democratic party lost 28 seats in the house, 6 in the senate. in ike's second term in 1958, the gop got wiped out, losing 48 house seats, 13 senate seats. reagan, '86, republicans lost 5 seats in the house, 8 seats in the senate. i'll tell you about that in a minute. but it cost republicans control of the senate in the process. president clinton, of course, is the big outlier here, if you'll recall. he didn't lose anything in the second midterm, winning five house seats for his party, staying even in the senate. eight years later, president bush got hammered, losing 30 seats in the house, 6 in the senate, but control of both houses were gone from republicans. a couple things to note

george bush had won reelection with a higher popular vote .ncreased republican majority in the house and senate. first time a president did that since fdr. yet the democrats won the house in 2006, presidency and house and senate in 2008. there are wild swings from one election to the next and will be again. so don't go wobbly instead go boldly forward to explain why you are right. because i believe you are. [ applause ] all right. instead of working with congress face to face to save the economy. president obama is trying to gets had way by doing what he does best. campaigning and making speeches about the fiscal cliff. the president never presented a plan until this week . the reception on capitol hill was to say the least chilly. senator mcconle laughed at the proposal when presented to him. joining me is allen west. colonel thank you for being here. [ applause ] what wasyour reaction when you finally saw what the president put on the table? >> i was in complete shock. it has nothing to do with reality. if you look at the president's propose

reform, in the bush administration. it showed they want to use it as a wedge issues, separating conservatives with hispanics and they're not interested in real reform. they haven't done it. right now the mouse controlled by the g.o.p. has passed now the stem act. >> and helps to bring scientists and technology, engineers, and stands for comprehensive reform like a bigger and broader bill? i'm skeptical. >> i'm skeptical and i'm not sure we do comprehensive well. what we don't need is obamacare for administration, something on pins and needles. our government does not do comprehensive well. >> he encourage you to watch mike gonzalez if you're interested about this, and assimilation. thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me here. [applause] >> who are the frontrunners to battle it out for the white house in 2016? believe it or not, some potential candidates are already doing some planning. we're going to have an early forecast from doug schoen and peggy noonan next. [applause]. [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer

bush that first put the label of a group of countries during his state of the union speech back in two thousand and two states like these and their terrorist allies constitute and actually should be able. to threaten the peace of the world by seeking weapons of mass destruction. these regimes pose a grange and growing danger. well north korea iran and iraq make up this axis ambassador john bolton took it a step further and deemed three more nations as part of this axis he said povey on the axis of evil there are other rogue states intent on acquiring weapons of mass destruction particularly biological weapons first libya there is no doubt that libya const continues its longstanding pursuit of nuclear weapons the united states also knows that syria has long had a chemical warfare program and has a stockpile of the nerve agent sarin is in is in gauged in research and development of the more toxic and persistent nerve agent v.x. well it goes on to add cuba to that list and well it was back in the bush area era and here we are today weeks away from president obama's inauguration to his sec

herbert walker bush. >> reporter: former president george h.w. bush is alert and in guarded condition in houston at methodist hospital. >> he is conscious. he recognizes people around here. he is joking with his doctors. those are good signs. >> reporter: the 88-year-old was put on a liquid diet wednesday as his fever got worse. the president was hospitalized last month because of a lingering cough. the oldest living former u.s. president made headlines in retirement skydiving to celebrate recent birthdays. how do you feel, mr. president? >> i feel wonderful! >> reporter: several months ago he was at the white house for the unveiling of his son's official presidential portrait. >> i am honored to be hanging near a man who gave me the greatest gift possible unconditional love that would be number 41. >> reporter: in recent years bush has developed a form of parkinson's disease that makes it difficult to walk. family spokesman says this latest illness has taken its toll. >> the president looks like he's done a few rounds with mike tyson. >> reporte

the little boy asked president bush. what is a purtle heart.e got down and explained what it was . right then, the soldier's eyes open and the medical team rushed toward the bed . the naval officer said i think he wants the president . president bush then walked around the side of the bed and held the soldiers face in his hand said and said read it again and we stood at attention and we watched as president bush cried about that. i am not sad. it was not the hardest thing because of president bush, but it was something that taught me that none of us will ever know what it is like to be a commander in chief from either party that has to make a decision to send someone in harm's way . that changed my life. [ applause ] >> i love your show on the five. you and greg have great chemistry. was it like that from the beginning. >> greg and i do have great chemistry. we never met before the five and never had a chance to talk. he said he asked me to do the show red eye and i blew him off. but greg is a wonderful talent and commomic genous and the brothe

will it be a tarp moment like in 2008 when the tarp legislation got voted down and president bush was imploring the fell mrow republicans. it's a bitter pill to swallow. they voted it down and the markets plunged 5, 600, 700 points and everybody figured it out. what's going to happen with the markets, they're closed new years day, but when they open january 2nd, we have several consecutive days the markets have gone down not by a ton, but if they're plunging on january 2nd, that's what they're more nervous about. >> andrea. >> we've heard a lot of names in these behind closed doors talks, we've heard biden, we've heard reid, the name we haven't heard is vice-president joe biden. what's the significance of them bringing him in in the 11th hour discussion? >> i think it's important because he was in delaware this weekend and all of a sudden, suddenly, rushed back to the white house early today and that's significant because when they had things all boxed up a year and a half ago on the debt ceiling and looked like they'd hit a brick wall, it was joe biden reaching out to mitch mcconnell

george h-w bush responds to the nationwide concern over his health. including cracking a few jokes. then. five days and counting until the fiscal cliff deadline. the possible plan b in case an agreement is not reached. former president george h-w bush.is still in intensve care at a houston hospital.dealing with a stubborn fever.but his sense of humor is just fine. the former president's family is confident he will be out of intensive care soon. bush's chief of staff sent supporters a note today including this quote: "he would ask me to tell you to please put the harps back in the closet." the 88-year-old has been in the hospital for more than a month, after first coming down with bronchitis. ♪ [ female announcer ] no more paper coupons. no more paper lists. [ dog barking ] ♪ no more paper anything. safeway presents just for u. ♪ save more. save easier. saving more, starts now. just for u on the safeway app. >> norman near schwarzkopf says it died. he gained attention in 19991 when he laid operation desert storm. he liberated kuwait after the iraqi invasion. he died of complications

bush, the oak ridge boys singing into the phone. we learn about the scramble after that request from barbara bush and the two words we heard at the other end of the line when the band finished. here's clayton sandell now. ♪ amazing grace max >> reporter: it was a spirit lifting serenade for the former commander in chief ordered up by former first lady barbara bush. >> she called us and said we should cheer the president up. and if the oak ridge boys could all get together and sing him a song or two. >> reporter: the bush family and the oak ridge boys have been mutual fans for decades. when the call from mrs. bush came in, the boys were on vacation but dropped everything gathering at the office in only 45 minutes. >> it was actually great to hear the president's voice in a cheerful mood. >> reporter: mr. bush, 88-years-old, is in this houston hospital fighting complications of bronchitis. an expected three-day stay now stretching more than a month. but when the band called his room on friday, number 41 had a request. >> he said he wa

argued bush v.ore, and basically put me in bed for a couple of days, i was so depressed after bush v. gore, was interested in gay rights. i thought, let's check it out. >> reporter: didn't you have any doubts about ted olson? >> you know, they say that politics makes strange bedfellows. well, you don't have a stranger bedfellow than me and ted olson. >> i was skeptical, absolutely. >> reporter: chad griffin was also at the polo lounge that day. he and rob reiner are old friends and political allies. they met when chad was just 19 and a press aide in the clinton white house. >> good morning, mr. president. >> reporter: he gave reiner the west wing tour when the director was scouting for his film, "an american president." they decided griffin would be the one to make that first uneasy call to olson. >> much to my surprise, it was an issue he had clearly thought a lot about. but the moment i hung up the phone, i realized that there was a chance i was talking to someone who overnight could become the mo

reagan, the first bush, and clinton.years when republicans started drifting towards agreements to raise taxes, newt gingrich attacked those republicans. he wasn't willing to take on president reagan head on but in 1984 he actually called senator bob dole, quote, the tax collector for the welfare state. never mind that senator dole was doing president reagan's legislative bidding. he was condemned by then junior congressman gingrich just for considering tax increase. when bill clinton pushed for the tax increase that he got in 1993, newt gingrich said, quote, the tax increase will kill jobs. newt was opposed to all tax increases but he knew he couldn't simply say, i'm opposed to all tax increases. he had to come up with a reason. a reason that he could sell at least to other republicans. republicans who had voted for tax increases before. the tax increase will kill jobs. newt gingrich, who was not then the leader of the republicans in the house of representatives controlled every republican vote and every republican vote

bush's father, former president george h.w. bush is spending another day in the hospital being treated for bronchitis and a lingering cough. we told you about that last week when we first found out that he was there. the 88-year-old former president is in stable condition. no record on when he is to be released. ab stoddard is a former editor for the hill. bush 43 has been fairly quiet throughout the first term of the obama administration. now the president has been reelected, george w. bush sort of comes out a little bit to make this big address, why? what is the timing about, do you think? >> i think the timing was shrewd. he really made a point of staying quiet during the first couple of years of president obama's administration, saying that he wanted the about the to be able to do his job, he didn't think he needed a former president to go out there and do somed tore ra some editorializing. he gave some peaches, enjoyed his life. he was not the subject of any praeurbgsz in fact not the subject at all at the republican conve

bush, president bush's nephew, do you see a role for the bush family bridging this gap?martha. president bush and his family could not be more right. earlier in the presidential election we saw governor jeb bush trying to move his party in the right direction on immigration reform. unfortunately for governor romney that didn't happen. this used to a bipartisan issue. the d.r.e.a.m. act was sponsored by orrin hatch, john mccain supported it. then we moved in the direction. i agree absolutely with brad, immigrants were being demonized and vilified. we moved from where it was aspirational, i'm a first generation american. people started talking about first general americans at anchor babies. we moved from a place where you were looking at a aspiring citizens to calling them illegal aliens. we have to move back from that and thank goodness. thank goodness president bush is taking the lead on this. martha: there needs to be a debate this country over what the role should be in terms of what the hopes and dreams are for all americans. and i want to just play this piece last ni

this is what bush has always done well.hat soul language. it's always that compassionate conservative inflection. what we're seeing here is through a process of whittling down through most of bush's other policies, sort of falling out of historical favor -- >> to say the least. >> bush has been whittled down to his legacy. what's interesting here is the long game with jeb bush and rubio in 2016. >> it's almost like he's laying the groundwork for his brother jeb bush, much more plow gressive stance on immigration. every time george bush comes out it's like a fork in the eye to the republican party because it's a reminder of what he did when he was president and he always had a more, you know, middle of the line stance when it comes to immigration. >> also a reminder of how divisive the immigration debate got in '05 and '06 where the republican party really lost a lot of latino voters, the dnc, and it was staggering like evangelical latinos were calling us, right, who voted for bush. so it is -- yes, it's about his legacy but

clean magic eraser. >>> was a reagan, was it clinton, was it bush? which clinton, which bush?omeone else? the most influential person in american politics in the last 30 years? the answer is next in the rewrite and so far only about four of you have gotten the correct answer on twitter. >>> and later, you saw me vote on tv. tonight you'll see me write a big check on tv. [ speaking in spanish ] >> the answer is lloyd bridges or -- >> lloyd bridges. >> si, lloyd bridges. >> in tonight's episode of who is more macho? ronald reagan, the first president bush, president bill clinton, or the man who will never be president, newt gingrich? who among those four men has had the most important and lasting influence on our politics and our governing? republicans will all say ronald reagan and they will all be wrong because they no longer understand ronald reagan or themselves. no one will say one-term president george h.w. bush and everyone will be right about that. democrats will say bill clinton and they will be wrong. that leaves the last man standing, newt gingrich. i think that i can

bush administrations and currently writes for the new york times in the financial times in our conversation we talked about whether or not conservatives are ready to face the facts and do what is necessary to become a relevant and mainstream political party once again it's my conversation with bruce partly. right we have a special edition of conversations with great minds with greece partly served in the staffs of former congressman ron paul and jack kemp and former senator roger jepson he's been the executive director of the joint economic committee of congress a senior policy analyst in the reagan white house and deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at the treasury department during the george h.w. bush administration is a columnist for the fiscal times and the author of several books including the new york times bestseller imposture how george w. bush betrayed america and betrayed our bankrupt excuse me the american betrayed the reagan legacy his latest book is entitled the benefit and the burden tax reform why we need it and what it will take restraints we now in the studio we

bush is currently in the icu. he was initially admitted last month for a persistent bronchitis-like cough. while that condition has improved a spokesperson says bush's condition remains guarded. >> he's got a fever right now that has been a stubborn fever, not responding to tylenol treatments for example. >> reporter: doctors put bush on a liquid diet yesterday but he was reportedly able to join his family in a christmas meal of chinese take-out from this local houston restaurant. he's received visits in recent days from his wife barbara, his children and grandchildren. the elder bush has looked the picture of health the past few years, sky diving multiple times to celebrate recent birthdays. seven months ago he was at the white house for the unveiling of his son's official presidential portrait. >> i am honored to be hanging near a man who gave me the greatest gift possible unconditional love. and that will be number 41. >> reporter: the former president's office released a statement yesterday, they say that bush

that because the nightmare of the bush presidency preceded him and people forgave him a lot he was a great hope for change the color of his skin the bug bringing in the internationalism the globalism seemed all evident and he's an intelligent man but he has. take in the old bush changes and he's basically put them into the establishment he's codify them that's what's so weird going into a second administration that is living outside the law and does not respect the laws of foundation of or of our system and he is a constitutional lawyer you know without the law there is the law of the jungle nuremberg existed for a reason there was a reason to have trials as a reason for due process as bad as corpus called the united states. do you agree. totally if you look at his domestic policy he didn't break with the wall street friendly friendly policies the bush administration if you look at his. transparency he claimed to be the transparency president he's running for office there hasn't been transparency we've been actually classifying more documents under obama than we did under bush all pr

bush knew how to use power. >> george bush gone foreign policy. reagan did.es. lyndon johnson did very much. and nixon in a kind of, you know, manipulative fashion, i think all of them in a sense although it's not really subject to measurement were able to shape foreign policy more decisively than the president in recent times. >> you should hear the words he uses to describe different people like -- yeah. >> what? >> dr. brzezinski, thank you so much. now tomorrow's show we'll give you a sneak preview of "forbes" list of the most powerful in the world. >> thanks, dad. >> claire mccaskill on the other side. ♪ ♪ mom? dad? guys? [ engine turns over ] [ engine revs ] ♪ he'll be fine. [ male announcer ] more people are leaving bmw, mercedes and lexus for audi than ever before. take advantage of exceptional values during the season of audi event. customer erin swensone bought so, i'm happy. today. sales go up... i'm happy. it went out today... i'm happy. what if she's not home? (together) she won't be happy. use ups! she can get a text alert, reroute... even resch