Last night, President Bush held his fourth primetime news conference in five years as president. While I'm tempted to write an entire column congratulating him on actually having a freaking news conference for once, that would be silly. Instead, I just want to add some questions of my own for President Bush to answer:
⇒ You said poor people will get more from your social security plan than rich people, but you offered no specifics, and even admitted that you expect Congress to come up with the details for you ("My job is to lay out an idea."). Why should the American people support an incomplete plan that you obviously haven't put any work into?
⇒ Bush on his social security plan: "If you're a grandmother or a grandfather listening, you're going to get your check."
How can you be sure when the plan has no specifics?
⇒ Bush on his social security plan: "People say, I'm worried about the stock market going down right before I retire. You can manage your assets. You can go from bonds and stocks to only bonds as you get older."
What about the people who don't know anything about stocks and bonds? There are millions of people who have absolutely no idea how to invest. And if you intend to give people a choice of investing or staying with the current social security "big pot" method, what will keep the "big pot" method from going bankrupt? Is your plan just giving some people an "out", instead of solving the problem for everyone?
⇒ Bush on broker fees for social security investing: "There's ways to have fee structures that are fair."
Once again, you didn't say how.
⇒ Bush on having the option to invest social security savings: "If it's good enough for the Congress, it ought to be good enough for the workers."
Why doesn't that promise ring true for healthcare?
⇒ Bush on the economy: "I am concerned about the economy because our small-business owners and families are paying higher prices at the gas pump."
Why did you dodge a simple question about the economy by talking about gas prices and bankruptcy? These items are related, but you weren't asked about causes of the bad economy. You were asked if the economy is bad. Why is it whenever the economy gets sluggish, you never admit to it? Didn't you learn in Alcoholics Anonymous that the first step is admitting there's a problem?
⇒ Bush on United Nations Ambassador nominee John Bolton's intended role: "The U.N. needs reform."
What needs to be reformed about the United Nations, and how can one ambassador restructure an entire world organization? Did you choose not to explain it because, like with your social security plan, you just threw the idea out there without even thinking about the details?
⇒ Bush on whether having troops in Iraq limits America's anti-terrorism work elsewhere: "The answer is no, he (Bush's top military advisor) doesn't feel we're limited. He feels like we've got plenty of capacity."
Then why aren't we doing anything in other countries? Both Iran and North Korea either have or are working towards creating WMDs, and both are ignoring our requests to stop. These cases are more of a danger to us than Iraq was, because we have solid proof of their WMDs. Since you just claimed we have the resources to fight terrorism elsewhere, why aren't we?
⇒ Bush on the danger of North Korea: "Look, Kim Jong Il is a dangerous person. He's a man who starves his people. He's got huge concentration camps ... There is concern about his capacity to deliver a nuclear weapon ... Our aim is to solve this problem diplomatically."
Iraq also had concentration camps and murdered their own people. In fact, you have often said that's the reason we went to war (contrary to your original WMDs reason). Why won't you free the North Korean people? Why are you changing the strategy that, according to you, has worked well in Iraq?
⇒ A reporter asked why No Child Left Behind is vigorously opposed by America's largest teacher's union. Why did you ignore that question and just start talking about how great No Child Left Behind is? You mentioned later on that if teachers are teaching well, they shouldn't be worried about students being tested, which was good, but you never said why the majority of teachers dislike your program. When a group of people directly affected by one of your programs has a major problem with it, wouldn't it be a good idea to address their complaints?
⇒ Bush on support for No Child Left Behind: "I hear teachers talk to me about how thrilled they are with No Child Left Behind."
Can you name one of them?
⇒ Bush on polls showing most Americans disapprove of his social security plan: "You know, if a president tries to govern based on polls, you're kind of like a dog chasing your tail."
First of all, what does that analogy mean? It is confusing. Secondly, since polls show what Americans want, are you saying you refuse to run America based on what its people want?
⇒ Why did you not use the phrase "the internets" in tonight's speech? I waited a whole hour just for you to say it, and you never did, you stone-cold heartbreaker.
⇒ Your press conference blocked out a very popular television show, "The O.C." The original time for your press conference was supposed to be 8:30 pm, but you changed it to 7 pm. Was that so you could watch the last half-hour of "WWE Smackdown" on UPN?
