George W. Bush in Shortest Way Home, by Pete Buttigieg

On Budget & Economy: 2008: $17.4B bailout for auto companies

In 2008 President Bush was preparing to leave office, but the emergency couldn't wait for the transition. In December he boldly initiated a $17.4 billion bailout package, saying, "Bankruptcy now would lead to a disorderly liquidation of American auto companies." To me, "disorderly liquidation" sounded like a cartoon whirlpool, with cars and workers waving their arms for help in the downward spiral toward the drain. A simpler way to put it was that millions of lives and hundreds of communities stood to be ruined. Yet the move to prevent this disaster was clearly not a political winner--something about the word "bailout" makes voters allergic--and the Senate was loath to vote for the package. When Congress refused to authorize funds, Bush acted unilaterally, rewiring money that Congress had authorized, with other purposes in mind, as part of the TARP bank rescue. Source: Shortest Way Home, by Pete Buttigieg, p. 82 Feb 12, 2019

On War & Peace: OpEd: Saddam had reasons to NOT use WMDs until we invaded

[In 2002] our president declared that Saddam Hussein must disarm his chemical and biological weapons, and vow, "If he won't do so voluntarily we will disarm him."

The tough talk was rousing, but it made no strategic sense. Saddam was a notoriously sinister dictator whose top priority, as with all dictators, was his own survival. It followed that he viewed his arsenal of chemical and biological weapons (as most of us believed he had) as an insurance policy to keep him in power. He would only part with them voluntarily if it would benefit his personal security--an unlikely course for someone who did not trust America. But actually using them would almost certainly lead to his destruction, so he had every reason to sit on his weapons if he had them. The only scenario where he might use them would be if he had nothing to lose by doing so--and now by invading, we were poised to create that very situation. Logically, this meant that an invasion would be very costly & bloody for American troops.

Source: Shortest Way Home, by Pete Buttigieg, p. 51-2 Feb 12, 2019

The above quotations are from Shortest Way Home One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future by Pete Buttigieg. Click here for other excerpts from Shortest Way Home One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future by Pete Buttigieg. Click here for other excerpts by George W. Bush. Click here for a profile of George W. Bush.
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Page last updated: May 21, 2019