Day 4: George W. Bush, big-hearted liberal

I'll keep it short - I started out keeping running notes, but I lost interest somewhere around the 856th bullet point policy statement. All I'll say is this: a week ago, Bush told Matt Lauer that the deficit would be cut in half during his next term. Seriously? Based on the wish list we heard last night, we'll need to explore 55% income tax brackets.

In regards to the new Republican catchphrase "ownership society", I want to add this observation because it's an ongoing pet peeve of mine. Bush has a recurrent fantasy about reforming Social Security by letting me (in my early 30's) start pumping money into my own personal retirement account. Hooray for me. Here's the rub: SOCIAL SECURITY IS AN ENTITLEMENT PROGRAM, NOT A RETIREMENT ACCOUNT! There's this popular misconception that "I'm only getting back the money I put in" when I get my Social Security check. This is umitigated horseshit. I am paying for those benefits, and guess what - I have to start paying for the Boomers' benefits pretty soon. So let me get this straight - I get to pay for two generations of Social Security benefits PLUS start saving for my own?

I'm in total agreement that Social Security is lurching toward a crisis, but I am so tired of these disingenuous ideas about reforming it. As it stands, the only way to pay for the coming Boomer balloon is to have more money in the Federal budget, and the only way to prepare for it? You guessed it - start paying down the debt and start finding ways to make room in the budget.

And I heard NOTHING in Bush's speech last night to give me confidence in his fiscal policies. His position is identical to his position when he began asking for tax cuts (back when we had a Federal surplus): keep giving tax breaks to the wealthy and hope, hope, hope that the economy picks up enough to offset it.

Oh, and no gay marriage (wild applause from the floor).

CNBC newsflash: Traders on the floor at the NYSE are really jazzed about the President's speech. Astounding.