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George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography - Get a Free Blog

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And look, I knew I'd catch some flak on this decision....But I've got to do what I think is<br />

right, and then I'll ask the people for support. But more important than posturing now, or<br />

even negotiating, is the result....<br />

It was a landmark of impudence and dissembling. One of <strong>Bush</strong>'s main objectives as he<br />

zig-zagged through the press conference was to avoid any television sound bites that<br />

would show him endorsing new taxes. So all his formulations were as diffuse as possible.<br />

Were tax revenue increases the same as taxes?<br />

<strong>Bush</strong>: And I say budget reforms are required, and I say spending cuts are required, and so<br />

let's see where we come out on that.<br />

Q: But is it taxes?<br />

<strong>Bush</strong>: Is what taxes?<br />

Q:What you're saying. Are you saying taxes are --higher taxes are--<br />

<strong>Bush</strong>: I've told you what I've said, and I can't help you any more. Nice try.<br />

Q:You said we needed--<br />

<strong>Bush</strong>:You got it. You got it, and you've got a--you've seen the arrows coming my way.<br />

And that's fine, but-- let people interpret it any way--<br />

Q: Well, I have--<br />

<strong>Bush</strong>: Well, I want to leave it the way I said I would, so the negotiators are free to discuss<br />

a wide array of options, including tax increases. Does that help?<br />

A questioner cited a tabloid headline: "Read My Lips: I Lied." <strong>Bush</strong> had been prepped by<br />

an historical review of how other presidents had allegedly changed their minds or lied,<br />

which had convinced <strong>Bush</strong> that he, although a liar, was actually in the same class with<br />

Lincoln. "I've been more relaxed about it than I thought I'd be," quipped <strong>Bush</strong>. "I feel<br />

comfortable about that because I've gone back and done a little research and seen these<br />

firestorms come and go, people who feel just as strongly on one side or another of an<br />

issue as I do and haven't gotten their way exactly." Why had he said no new taxes during<br />

the campaign? "Well, I don't think anybody did such a penetrating job of questioning...."<br />

<strong>Bush</strong>'s basic idea was that he could get away with it, in the way that Reagan had gotten<br />

away with the 1982 recession. But for many voters, and even for many Republican<br />

loyalists, this had been yet another epiphany of a scoundrel. Many were convinced that<br />

<strong>Bush</strong> believed in absolutely nothing except hanging on to power.<br />

It was also in the early summer of 1990 that it gradually dawned on many taxpayers that,<br />

according to the terms of the Savings & Loan bailout championed by <strong>Bush</strong> during the<br />

first weeks of his regime, they would be left holding the bag to the tune of at least $500

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