Hmm… A Jeb Bush campaign centerpiece that reminds people of Dubya’s failures and Bill Clinton’s successes? Brilliant!!
The centerpiece of Jeb Bush’s campaign is a promise to restore 4 percent growth. This goal has already been claimed by the guy Bush is trying to make people forget — his brother, Dubya, whose post-presidential center has also made “4% growth” its primary theme. Borrowing your theme from a failed ex-president brother you’re trying not to be associated with seems like a questionable strategy.
But wait… it gets better. So much better.
The last time economic growth hit 4 percent in a year took place during the Clinton administration, a fact that lends this goal its comic undercurrent. When Bill Clinton raised the top tax rate to 39.6 percent, conservatives insisted it would drive the economy into a recession. Instead, the tax hike was followed by a boom.