FORMER TREASURY SECRETARY PAUL O�NEILL
SHOPPING AROUND MANUSCRIPT CRITICAL OF
BUSH ADMINISTRATION ECONOMIC POLICY
Sun Mar 02 2003 11:04:03 ET
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Economy Will Surge After War Ends, Bush Advisers Say
New York -- Former Treasury Secretary Paul O�Neill and a journalist are
shopping around a manuscript critical of the Bush administration�s
handling of the economy, TIME�s Jay Carney and John Dickerson report.
The story appears in the new issue of TIME (on newsstands Mon., Mar. 3rd).
The war may be the White House�s way out of the problem of low consumer
confidence and a sluggish economy. The economy, Bush advisers say, will
surge after the war�s end, as relieved businesses start spending and
investing to meet pent-up demand. And as the advisers like to point out,
victory in war can jump start a President�s stalled poll numbers. With a
postwar mandate, they say, congressional opposition to his tax cuts will
melt away, TIME reports.
"History shows," a top Bush adviser tells TIME, "once the shooting starts,
the public rallies around the President. And once it�s over, this
President will use his political capital to get things done at home."
The Bush administration is being helped by John Snow, the new Treasury
Secretary, who is putting his skills as a former lobbyist to good use,
button-holing legislators on trips to Capitol Hill. During downtime on the
Hill last week he started cold calling lawmakers, dispensing with the
custom of scheduled conversations. "John Snow here," he bellowed out to
bewildered interns, TIME reports.
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