Greenspan Bashes Bush and Republicans

In his new book The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World, Alan Greenspan criticizes both Bush and the Republican Party for lack of fiscal restraint and out of control spending. He even singles out Bill Clinton for some well deserved praise in regards to the economy. Some of his thoughts:

"My biggest frustration remained the president’s unwillingness to wield his veto against out-of-control spending,” Greenspan writes. “Not exercising the veto power became a hallmark of the Bush presidency. … To my mind, Bush’s collaborate-don’t-confront approach was a major mistake.”

As to Congress, "The Republicans in Congress lost their way,” Greenspan writes. “They swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither.” He singles out Dennis Hastert and Tom Delay and says "House Speaker Hastert and House majority leader Tom DeLay seemed readily inclined to loosen the federal purse strings any time it might help add a few more seats to the Republican majority".

The book, which is due out on Monday, will most likely be the talk of Washington in the next few days.