Given the way he has botched everything he and his adminstration have touched since being in office, lets be glad he’s not involved in this . . .

What a biased piece of journalism. To say he isn’t doing anything is false and reprehensible.

He`s used his MBA alright. I`ll bet his personal an families` fortunes have increased tenfold during his tenure in office. The obvious monitary windfall will come after he leaves office. That`s when he`ll collect all those IOU`s. He`s a “hollow” little man by any measure and a wart on the ass of Texas.

Is this whining? Kind of a Katrina-economy riff? Last I heard the executive branch saved Bear Stearns with 24 hours notice. Regardless, I don’t think that the ins-and-outs of CDO’s and market faith are productive areas of focus for any president. As for oil, it’s run by business and dictatorships…so I expect the crap to hit the fan every twenty years or so. Remember the 70’s!

It is no surprise to hear Mr. Bush was unaware of $4.00 gasoline; after all his entire administration is of the opinion that oversight means to overlook.

as an American living in Mexico, I get most of news of the USA from CNN, and when I travel occasionally to the States to see family. It seems that Bush is completely out of touch, and the USA out of control on many of the key points. As a former business person, I hired many MBA’s and wound up firing most of them. Bush is no different. There is a great divide between education and performance.

Mr. Bush in his whole life has never ever produced a profit in anything he has been involved with. This is no different. He is going down in history as he should you guess how.

Exactly right!

Bush seems to focus on only one aspect of the national scene at a time. Its still Iraq. Its like Katrina over again — his mind is elsewhere.

During his presidential campaign in 2000, Mr. Bush was very powerful in saying that he would stand up to OPEC and serve the American people by pressuring OPEC to keep prices moderate. Just one of the many stated positions that Mr. Bush was not serious about. Along with the tax break due to the tax payers because of the short-lived budget surplus. About not being a nation builder. That he was a person who brought groups together, not a divider. That he would lead this country. And those who were foolish enough to re-elect this incompetent leader and thus we are suffering on so many fronts where a true leader would have a grasp and more importantly a plan… And we have neither…

Just because one has a Harvard MBA doesn’t mean they’re good for anything. Bush’s cabinet was initially formed with Dad’s old buddies and the results are obvious for all to see.

Bing, you gotta lay off Bush. There’s brush to be cleared for God’s sake!

It certainly seems that MBAs are learning something suspect these days, as the wizards at Bear Stearns, Countrywide, etc. proved.

As far as I’m concerned, everyone who voted for Bush (twice!) deserves whatever economic hardship they experience. The man couldn’t even run a small oilfield concern in MIdland, fer chrissakes – and won’t listen to anyone he doesn’t already agree with. What makes you think he could prosecute a war and appoint advisers who would steer the country straight?

Like the man said in Full Metal Jacket: It’s a big s*it sandwich, and we’re all gonna have to take a bite. I hope we learn from it.

He`s used his MBA alright. I`ll bet his personal an families` fortunes have increased tenfold during his tenure in office. The obvious monitary windfall will come after he leaves office. That`s when he`ll collect all those IOU`s. He`s a “hollow” little man by any measure and a wart on the ass of Texas.

Posted By Bobby, Red Springs, TX

Very well put, but you forgot his most redeeming Quality,

When he leaves a room the average IQ in it doubles.

Amazing! I know some older people. The way they usually describe an anti climax such as our financial melt down is like 100 violins playing a “symphony” of sadness.

The way I see music in today’s world and the way the meltdown seems to be playing out is–”RAPP”–”PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC WHITE BOY”.

Quoting Detroit Mayor, Coleman Young: “What happens in the city travels to the suburbs”. No riff raff allowed in the “White House”.

I grew up in a wealthy East Coast town. Middle class Irish. In the 9th grade, all the wealthy boys (6)went off to private schools-Andover, Exeter, Deerfield and the like. What I remember was that I had never classes with any of them-they were average students at best, and never came close to an honor roll. Then I slowly realized that money and power allowed these typical Brahmins to succeed while brains and hard work didn’t count. As my Dad once said “If they graduate from Harvard, and are too slow to make it in the real world, they go to work for AT&T.” 30 years later, my daughter met George W at a Texas convention, and told me “He’s dumb as a stump”. But he went to Yale and Harvard, so maybe AT&T next?

I’d say that Bush’s performance as an MBA in the White House is a mirror image of the performance of most MBSs in business as a whole. focus on the short term at the cost of the health of the company, focus on the stockholders at the cost of the employees and focus on personal compensation at the cost of everyone else.

Hell, he could be the poster boy for the MBA movement.

Don’t forget, he’s the DECIDER, and he decided that we WERE NOT in a recession. So I guess that just makes it so.

My favorite quote is from good will hunting and goes like this “In twenty years your going to start to do some thinking for yourself and your going to come to two conclusions, one is dont do that and the second is you just wasted $150,000 on an education you couldve gotten for $1.50 in late charges from the library.”

you know how it goes rich get rich and poor stay poor. well at least till the revolution but those are messy.

The real question is : How can America explain to future generations that they elected this man TWICE.

The BRITS are well known for their poor planning,ie: I and many others will always remind them that they took PONIES to ANTARCTICA

The Americans will always be held up for ridicle as the People Who ELECTED A moron TWICE.

His financial skills wouldn’t let me send him to the corner store for a loaf of bread;

And you people trusted him with your pensions, lifesavings and investments and the fate of a great nation. ARRRRRGH

This is a pathetic attempt at trying to discover what went wrong with the economy.

The fact that Bush has an MBA from an elite university has nothing to do with the idiocy and greed of Americans. Bush isn’t doing bad himself. Why should he really care how fellow Americans are doing?

The facts are that too many people in America are horrible with money. It wouldn’t matter if every member of the executive, judicial, and legislative brancehs of government had MBAs. Americans are not smart enough to handle their own money. Smart people don’t suffer during a recession; dumb people do. The dumb need someone to blame and Bush is an easy target.

The weird thing is that most Americans are not even going through hard times. If paying more for a few items is hard, so what! There are Somalian refugees living in housing made of cloth and sticks. I am sitting back laughing at all of these “hard times” that Americans are facing! Life here isn’t hard. It may not be fun, but it isn’t hard. If things are so hard here, move to Somalia.

The weird thing is that most Americans are not even going through hard times. If paying more for a few items is hard, so what! There are Somalian refugees living in housing made of cloth and sticks. I am sitting back laughing at all of these “hard times” that Americans are facing! Life here isn’t hard. It may not be fun, but it isn’t hard. If things are so hard here, move to Somalia.

Posted By Yadgyu, Harkeyville, TX

I have to agree, you are correct in many ways.
We are soft and we are spoiled, greedy and vain, motivated by quick stimulus.

We don’t think and plan we live for today.

For me this downturn is no problem, for many others it will be an unendurable hardship that they have no experience with.

The great educator is personal experience, but not many people wanted to sign up for this course.

Bush is an easy target for the blame because he is responsible for spending the nations treasure on misadventures.
10 or 12 billion spent a month in Iraq would be appreciated by any state if the money was spent at home in their state.

Please Dan in Alpine UT, tell us what great achievements G.W. Bush has accomplished during his tenure at the White House.. did he get the Grunt’s Birthday Party Skull in Halo 3?

What has he done that has brought jobs into the country. What has he done that has brought money into my pocket book (besides giving back my tax money I already earned in the first place). What has he done for the international community that makes them admire us (instead of admonish).

What great things has this schmuck done?

On the topic of today’s blog, I’m getting my MBA, not from Harvard, but a highly respected university none the less (top 50), and I happen to have a classmate that is both business savvy, and very politically intelligent. I’d vote for him because I know the kind of work he does. However, I’d also run against him because of ideological beliefs. We need smart MBAs in office, not pre-tards like Dubya.

MBAs get alot of credit and catch alot of slack, I’m not complaining, but I think GW Bush should have his degree revoked from Havard, he hasn’t done anything positive with it, I bet if you asked him to draw a supply and demand curve, he’d draw a stick figure with dollar signs for eyes.

This happens eventually to all middle-aged White men, they realize what horrid people run the GOP.

For a man who has a degree in management, can we point at any management success in his presidency? Afganistan – a win but no follow up management plan to capitalize on that. no “Marshall plan” to cement the win. Iraq – “mission accomplished,” but no plan so we are stuck in it. REpublican inherited a budget surplus, blew it. An MBA but an administration characterized by mismanagement. HBS must be embarrassed.

G.W.Bush may be different from how we expect a ruler of a country to be. But he is very similar to the typical Wall Street executives we read about these days. Has no idea what goes on in the country, look for profit in the short term while destroying the longterm prospects (eg: outsourcing), etc. And most of all, looks after himself at the cost of everything else.

This is a capitalist society. Survival of the fittest. So what do you expect? He is doing the best for himself. If anyone else want more, they need to take the difficult path and try to get to the top themselves. And if they are born poor, they will just have to fight every step of the way. No free ride to the top. But a decent prospect is still achievable.

Don’t get me wrong. I hate Bush as much as the next man, but only in a ‘clueless CEO who detroys a great company while getting huge bonuses’ kind of way. Perhaps it’s because I still believe in capitalism as the path that gives some return to those who really deserve it.

But then again, I am still young and hasn’t been through much. May be I will get as cynical as most other people as the years go by.

If your country needs some monetary guidance, I know a waitress who works for minimum wage,is a single mom, has two kids and can balance a budget, works 12 hours a day, take ten orders from customers and get them all right.
Somehow she manages to save money
dresses smartly and looks good and is always cheerful.
I bet for a few more bucks she could replace Ben and have the country up and running in no time.

What I learned from this blog and its comments:

Whining begets whining.

The role of any President is to be a LEADER – and the mess we are in, demands a LEADER. Why Mr Bush is not taking a major role in solving our problems, is behond me. Maybe he bought his MBA at Harvard!!!
Maybe Harvard Business School should take some responsibility!!!
In the business world, Mr. Bush would of already been FIRED!!!

Bush is a dismal failure of a man because instead of surrounding himself with smart, young people with new ideas, he surrounded himself with Ronald Reagan leftovers including some who have served jail time for financial scandals.

As a result Bush has had to rely on his brains….like Rambo, he has to go into battle unarmed.

Nevermind the 6 years of economic boom following 9-11. So we have had the economy come back some in the past 6 months, okay it happens. This is pretty similar to the economy under Clinton, and he was the best president of all time, according to liberals. As for the tax cuts, you can pay more to the government if you feel like it. No one will stop you.

W has endured the most challenging presidency in the history of our country. The dot-com bubble burst, Katrina, 9/11, and so on. The fact is, while we could be allocating “war funds” towards other domestic issues, the US presence in the Middle East has successfully averted another terrorist attack on US soil.. Rest assured that the aftermath of another attack would cause our economy to unravel.

Wow, I am afraid that he is not a great advert for either the merits of earning an MBA nor for the august Harvard Business School!

Hey, why move to Somalia? We have Somalians right here in Minnesota that are getting a first rate education, food stamps, free health care and housing all from MY tax dollars.

AMEN! Jack in Canada!

Wow, I am afraid that he is not a great advert for either the merits of earning an MBA nor for the august Harvard Business School!

Posted By Mark, Amsterdam,
Netherlands

I have 2 Doctorates and 4 other degrees in various fields rangeing from Surgey to Quantum physic’s
I currently have a Masters in economics and am about to get degree in astro botany.

NOT bad for a guy who ordered all that stuff through the internet for less than $500.00 Those diplomas look good on the wall and they were cheap.
The Astro Botany one is gonna be my favorite, it’s all about getting high on plants.

Dear Jack from Canada,
Does your internet university offer classes in spelling or punctuation?

Surgey?
rangeing?
physic’s?