Main topics covered:
1. Background info on Paul O’Neill’s philosophy. (He is an economic thinker and doesn’t like politics)
2. Bush and nicknames. O’Neill says, “This is a form of bullying and control over his staff.”
3. Bush goes after Iraq before the Sept. 11 attacks.
4. Bush and Middle East Policy.
5. GW scripts his meetings and conferences. (Before conferences his staff reviews each person and tells them how long they can speak and what they can ask or talk about.
6. GW and Africa. (Aids and Poverty)
7. GW and the Environment. (Specifically, “Production vs. Carbon Dioxide emissions”)
8. O’Neill’s personal meetings with GW are 60-minute monologues.
9. Good coverage of both tax cut plans and the meetings that went on in private with him and GW.
The basis of O’Neill’s book is that he believes that the administration acts and chooses policy based mainly on “ideology (based on emotion)” and not rationality. Bush has surrounded himself with “Yes men and women” and if there is any dissent or debate, he quickly has a member of the Cabinet squelch the party dissenting. He feels that GW shows little interest in “any’ alternative opinions.
One of the funniest part was when he was eating at Camp David with his Cabinet members:
Conversation between O’Neill’s wife and Bush (Bush calls the homemade food “comfort food”)
From “The Price of Loyalty” by Suskind:
She asked what kind of comfort food he’d grown up on, what was the favorite thing he’d ask his mother to make on a special occasion.
Bush shook his head. “You got to be kiddin’. My mother never cooked. The woman had frostbite on her fingers. Everything right our of the freezer.”[\b]
Thought it was an interesting book. Especially, since O’Neill is not being paid. He seems like a nice person that wants to do some constructive public service, but is disillusioned at beltway politics and the ideological stand of the administration. Some interesting conversations with Greenspan.
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"THEY COULDN'T HIT AN ELEPHANT AT THIS DIST.........." - Major Gen. John Sedgwick.
Instantly killed by a sniper while peering over a parapet during the Battle of Spotsylvania.
[This message has been edited by ldlane (edited 01-19-2004).]
1. Background info on Paul O’Neill’s philosophy. (He is an economic thinker and doesn’t like politics)
2. Bush and nicknames. O’Neill says, “This is a form of bullying and control over his staff.”
3. Bush goes after Iraq before the Sept. 11 attacks.
4. Bush and Middle East Policy.
5. GW scripts his meetings and conferences. (Before conferences his staff reviews each person and tells them how long they can speak and what they can ask or talk about.
6. GW and Africa. (Aids and Poverty)
7. GW and the Environment. (Specifically, “Production vs. Carbon Dioxide emissions”)
8. O’Neill’s personal meetings with GW are 60-minute monologues.
9. Good coverage of both tax cut plans and the meetings that went on in private with him and GW.
The basis of O’Neill’s book is that he believes that the administration acts and chooses policy based mainly on “ideology (based on emotion)” and not rationality. Bush has surrounded himself with “Yes men and women” and if there is any dissent or debate, he quickly has a member of the Cabinet squelch the party dissenting. He feels that GW shows little interest in “any’ alternative opinions.
One of the funniest part was when he was eating at Camp David with his Cabinet members:
Conversation between O’Neill’s wife and Bush (Bush calls the homemade food “comfort food”)
From “The Price of Loyalty” by Suskind:
She asked what kind of comfort food he’d grown up on, what was the favorite thing he’d ask his mother to make on a special occasion.
Bush shook his head. “You got to be kiddin’. My mother never cooked. The woman had frostbite on her fingers. Everything right our of the freezer.”[\b]
Thought it was an interesting book. Especially, since O’Neill is not being paid. He seems like a nice person that wants to do some constructive public service, but is disillusioned at beltway politics and the ideological stand of the administration. Some interesting conversations with Greenspan.
------------------
"THEY COULDN'T HIT AN ELEPHANT AT THIS DIST.........." - Major Gen. John Sedgwick.
Instantly killed by a sniper while peering over a parapet during the Battle of Spotsylvania.
[This message has been edited by ldlane (edited 01-19-2004).]
