Below The Beltway

Retiring Virginia Congressman Tom Davis is the subject of an article in today’s New York Times Magazine, and he doesn’t hold much back:
Tom Davis arrived in Congress with the Gingrich class of 1994, again ousting an incumbent Democrat, but he was hardly a revolutionary. Davis was a business-oriented Republican animated by economic competitiveness, fiscal responsibility [...]

By the time he leaves office, George W. Bush will have increased the national debt more than any other President in American history:
With no fanfare and little notice, the national debt has grown by more than $4 trillion during George W. Bush’s presidency.
It’s the biggest increase under any president in U.S history.
On the day President [...]

It shouldn’t be any surprise that George W. Bush has hit the lowest approval ratings of his Presidency:
PRINCETON, NJ — According to a Sept. 26-27 USA Today/Gallup poll, just 27% of Americans approve of the job George W. Bush is doing as president, the lowest rating of his presidency.
The new personal low rating for Bush [...]

A Republican Congressman from Michigan reminds the Bush Administration that the Constitution still means something:

H/T: Cato@Liberty

Fellow Virginia blogger Leslie Carbone reports that she was invited, and then unceremoniously booted, from today’s White House Conference Call:
I dialed in a little before 11:00, got the please-wait message, and listened to the butchered music. An operator came on and asked me for my identity, which I provided, and then subjected me to a [...]

The Cato Institute’s William Niskanen points out the absurdity of trust Bush and the Democrats in Congress when they tell us to accept their bailout plan:
For the second time in six years, the Bush administration has asked Congress for nearly unlimited authority without an independent professional review of the evidence that led the administration to [...]

Well, it wasn’t exactly a fireside chat.
President Bush addressed the nation tonight and warned of impending doom unless we unquestioningly accept his $ 700 billion bailout plan:
WASHINGTON — President Bush appealed to the nation Wednesday night to support a $700 billion plan to avert a financial meltdown on Wall Street, and he invited both major [...]

Many assume that George W. Bush’s legacy will be determined by how history judges the Iraq War, but The Politico points out that the past week brings to mind another possibility:
President Bush has long assumed the outcome of the Iraq war would define his legacy. But the catastrophic collapse of the housing bubble on his [...]

For absolutely nothing:
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The budget deficit will jump by $246 billion to $407 billion this year, the Congressional Budget Office estimates in a report released Tuesday.
“Over the long run, growing budget deficits and the resulting increases in federal debt would lead to slower economic growth,” the agency said.
Last year, the budget deficit [...]

During Barack Obama’s acceptance speech last week, one of his most well-received lines came when he equated John McCain with George W. Bush and stated “Eight is Enough.” Now, the Obama campaign has a new ad out that carries that theme…..

In a close election where your opponent doesn’t necessarily want to be associated with an [...]