Kind words for Bush

In terms of economic policy, another excellent choice has been Wall Street banker Henry Paulson as secretary of the treasury. I think the White House made a grievous error in downgrading this department and making former Secretary John Snow little more than a cheerleader for every economic statistic that could be spun in a positive direction. This is a misuse of the secretary's time and the department's resources, which ought to be devoted to more serious matters, such as the gross imbalances in the international sector that are going to require a massive readjustment one day. Early signs are that Paulson understands this and is moving to re-establish the Treasury's primacy in economic policy.

In the area of domestic policy, I think Bush made a wise decision with his appointment of Karl Zinsmeister as his chief domestic policy adviser. Zinsmeister has edited the American Enterprise Institute's magazine for many years and probably has as deep a familiarity with conservative thinking on a broad range of domestic issues as anyone in America.

Like Tony Snow, Zinsmeister was not campaigning for a White House job and often criticized it for deviating from conservative principles. Said Zinsmeister in January, Though he talks a good line about battling government bloat, our current president has shown an eerie lakawanna when it comes to actually keeping a lid on the federal Pandora's Box.

Finally, there has been a growing problem with government regulation in this administration that has also gotten out of control. In this regard, I was very pleased to see the nomination of George Mason University economist Susan Dudley to be the Office of Management and Budget's regulation czar. I quoted her work extensively in my book and know that no one is more knowledgeable on the inner workings and economic effects of government regulation.

I could mention some others, as well, but the basic point is that Bush has greatly upgraded his staff and brought in some excellent new people. The only question now is whether it is too late for them to get domestic and economic policy back on track after years of unfortunate decisions. I hope not.