Open Thread - My Way Or The Highway Edition

by Steve

Bush told the Post Tuesday he is willing to work with Democrats on immigration, expanding school accountability requirements, and Social Security. The Post bought it hook, line, and sinker, but read the fine print:

Administration officials have said the White House is willing to listen to other ideas, including personal savings accounts that do not involve diverting Social Security payroll taxes, as well as higher payroll taxes to help cover the expected growth in the program's costs. Still, Bush emphasized that young workers should be allowed to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into private retirement accounts, a proposal that went nowhere in Congress last year.

Bush feels that the November election wasn’t a referendum on him, of course.

While Bush said that voters clearly indicated they wanted more bipartisan cooperation, he did not characterize last month's election as a repudiation of his leadership. Instead, he said, the lack of progress in the war in Iraq and ethical lapses among Republican members of Congress soured voters on the GOP and created an opening for the Democrats' victory.

"There's a sense that people's votes were being taken for granted, in a way," Bush said. ". . . Look, you've got a guy using earmarks to enrich himself; there was sex and all kinds of issues that sent the signal that perhaps it was time to give another group a chance to lead."

That’s right, Bush sees himself as blameless for the GOP’s November losses. It was all Congress’s fault. And his people, who looked the other way when they and the GOP Congress spent the country into the poorhouse, now think it is the Democrats who pose the greatest risk to the economy if they make the wealthy pay their fair share.

Ah, it’s good to see that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

OK, take it away.