The growing GOP schism

Al Franken was discussing this on his show today-- Dan Bartlett, who served in Reagan's administration and was an early advocate of now-ridiculed 'supply side economics.' Republicans of the Reagan mold don't come much more qualified than that.

I've noted several articles that Bartlett wrote over the last year that were very critical of Bush the Second's policies, such as unprecedented deficits, continued expansion of govcernment, and other policies that are totally antithetical to conservatism.

Now Bartlett is writing an entire book against Bush's betrayal of conservative tenets. It's cost him his job at the right-wing National Center for Policy Analysis ("Heretic! Blasphemer!"), but hopefully it will be the first volley in a conservative onslaught on the man who is selling out the nation purely in the pursuit of power. It's important to get the word out that Bush's spending is more than any liberal president, and his opposition to civil liberties should shame any conservative. The working title of the book? "The Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy."

Like many economic conservatives, he has grown increasingly disenchanted with the current administration's fiscal policy, arguing that Mr. Bush has tolerated if not encouraged a federal spending spree, dashing conservative hopes for progress toward a smaller, leaner government. (. . .)

In his next column, to be published on Wednesday, Mr. Bartlett wrote that it is dawning on many conservatives "that George W. Bush is not one of them and never has been," citing the administration's positions on education, campaign finance, immigration, government spending and regulation. The choice "of a patently unqualified crony for a critical position on the Supreme Court was the final straw," he wrote.

Thanks to OD1 for sending me the article.