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Summary: A Very Scary Piece of Work on Many Levels
Review: A very good book. On one level it verifies what has been speculated by the press: that Cheney runs the government, that Bush is hard right, that Bush forced the Iraqi war, and that Bush is a bit of a klutz. But this is not to say Bush has not become more comfortable with the job as he grew into it. And at a different level, O'Neill comes off as a "do-gooder," hypocritical and someone who did not do his job (he tried to do other's jobs many times(Whitmans and Powells)). And O'Neill constantly bickers that there isn't an honest broker anywhere to be seen, but when it came to his and Greenspans discussing corporate governance they went in with a set plan and didn't ask for ideas. Much like he criticizes Bush the entire book. You have to treat this book as if O'Neil was an outsider: he was.At an entirely different level you can see the US Economy in a very wicked way - as a feudal system. But now the dukes are the CEOs and the King is forged from the dukes. (The Democrats are no better in my opinion. It all reeks of elitism). And we are all the serfs. We "think" we like the present system but that's only because they have our "buy in" from our retirement plans heavily invested in the market. Long live the King.
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Summary: valuable insight with some subjective filtering
Review: The Price of Loyalty is valuable reading for anyone who wants a better understanding of how this current administration operates on the inside. As statecraft drifts further and further into the realm of stagecraft, one strains to imagine how many of our nation's policies are formed. It could even be said to be difficult to discern WHAT the actual policies are, given how the simplicity of the official line often runs contrary to its actual behavior. TPOL does as good a job as possible at showing us how decisions are made within the Bush administration, and how that tranlates into their presentation. This is invaluable to us all, as voting members of this republic. If there is any weakness with this work, it is that the author presents a fairly limited perspective of the events described, lionizing former secretary O'Neill in a way that suggests a slanted report. While this is probably an inevitable consequence of Mr. O'Neill's role as main contributor of the book's material, a more balanced portrayal of the man would have been welcome. This is not to say that I have any criticisms of my own towards this man, but that a credulous reader might take the book at face value without recognizing its limitations. That being said, if the text is anything but lies and statistics, I would probably find myself in agreement with Paul O'Neill on many matters, and share the author's admiration of his character. It is only because one of the most important themes is impartial analysis that the pro-O'Neill slant seems particularly inappropriate.
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Summary: The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and t
Review: GREAT! Should be required reading for 7th graders thru the oldest seniors, both in US and internationally.
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Summary: Book Will Help End Bush Regime, the Sweetest Revenge
Review:
This book is, quite literally, one of the keys to a Democratic trouncing of Bush in 2004.
The author, an award-winning Wall Street journalist, makes three points in his brief introduction: 1) the greatest threat to national security is that of *bad analysis* (not just secret analysis but bad policy analysis); 2) the book is not a kiss and tell memoir as much as an eye-opening warning of what happens when ideology is substituted for policy analysis; and 3) the book is based on nineteen thousand documents--virtually every document the protagonist O'Neil touched--and hundreds of hours of interviews with people who by their very consent to be interviewed were validating O'Neil's account. This book is a classic, and the moderate Republican counter-part to Morton Halperin's similarly revelatory "Bureaucratic Politics & Foreign Affairs." Although much has been made of how O'Neil is disparaging of the incumbent president, that is a minor aspect. The heart of this book is about the competition between two forms of governance: the one that is overseen by Dick Cheney, in which ideological assumptions create policy without regard to the facts and in favor of the wealthy few that contribute to the incumbent's political coffers; and the one that was characteristic of wiser Republican presidents, including Nixon, Ford, Reagan and papa Bush, in which a philosophy of governance seeks to find a balanced middle ground based on an interplay of facts and political preferences. Summing the book up in two sentences: Bush-Cheney are about ideological victory at any cost, making policy in favor of their corporate crony base, without regard to the facts or the merits of any policy. O'Neil, and the winning candidate in 2004 if (big if) a multi-party coalition team can be put together, are about a reasoned process for arriving at sound policy in the context of fiscal discipline. This is an exciting book, and one that every moderate Republican will want to read as they contemplate joining with conservative Southern Democrats like Sam Nunn to create a new Fiscal Conservative Party. An early quote from O'Neil talking to Greenspan sums up the problem: "Our political system needs fixing. It needs to be based on reality. Not games." The book rewards anyone who actually reads it word for word with a number of gems. 1) The American economy is actually two economies. One embraces automation and is very productive as a result; the other relies on expert labor and having difficulty making gains. 2) Corporate tax contributions to national revenue have been halved from 1967 to 2000 [not addressed by O'Neil, but as the book "Perfectly Legal" documents, the tax code has become so corrupt that despite the enormous growth of the economy and the enormous profits being made by Halliburton et al, corporations are now escaping virtually all taxes, and this is a big part of why the US Government cannot cover its future obligations and growing debt.] 3) Iraq was the Bush-Cheney regime's top priority from day one. The very first National Security Council meeting was scripted to put Iraq in play, and the Director of Central Intelligence was a full collaborator in this endeavor, coming to the meeting with a variety of images (all subsequently called into question) that purported to make the case for Iraq being a threat requiring action. As O'Neil recollects in the book: "Ten days in, and it was about Iraq." 4) The unilateralist character of the regime is also addressed. As this review is being written, the Administration is posturing about going after nuclear proliferators, which makes the O'Neil critique of the Rumsfeld approach to proliferation control all the more meaningful: "A traditional counterpoint, that international organizations and a web of economic and cultural interdependencies--as well as protective alliances--could help to control such deadly proliferation, is not mentioned in the six-page memo. The neoconservative view places little faith in such arrangements, or, for that matter, in diplomacy." There it is again. The Bush Administration is about a big military stick motivated by ideology and not at all informed by any kind of inter-agency policy review process. 5) The book provides a very clear understanding of the pathologies of the Bush White House that will be most helpful to the person finally challenging Bush in 2004. The degree to which Rove literally shuts the Cabinet officers out and manipulates policy to appeal to "the base" of cash contributors is quite extraordinary. The degree to which Cheney manipulates letters from the Hill and other matters warrants its own chapter, titled "No Fingerprints." The degree to which Lindsey, a loosely-educated ideological wonk in way over his head, leaks to the press to undermine the Secretary of the Treasury, is noteworthy. 6) Rove's conspiratorial manipulation of Presidential policymaking led, in Bush's *first* State of the Union message, to the first known instance in which the president "said something that knowledgeable people in the U.S. government knew to be false", this with respect to a $1.2 trillion calculation that was knowably false and enormously important to the bond market. This was nothing less than a precursor to future false statements by the president that can be attributed to an unprofessional policy process dominated by a few ideologues. 7) There is a very fine section on clean water and reliable electricity as the heart of saving the Third World, and we are treated to the contrast between a beltway bandit costing out a water network for one country at $2 billion, and O'Neil saying it could be done for $25 million. This vignette captured everything that is wrong with both Washington and the military-industrial complex. This book is packed with gems, all of them useful to anyone seeking to document why Bush and Cheney are unfit to lead America. They broke most if not all of their promises to "the center", and they are twice removed from reality: once on tax cuts and a second time on the doctrine of preemption in foreign affairs.
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Summary: A MUST READ
Review: If u want to read about the competency (or lack thereof) of our president when it comes to economic policy, then this book is a must read!! Plus it gives you good insights into the inner workings of the Bush admin.
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Summary: Half valuable, completely disturbing
Review: The Price of Loyalty is really two books in one. The first part concentrates on painting a flattering picture of its main subject, former Treasury Secretary and Alcoa Chairman Paul O'Neill. This part is at times gratingly predictable, painting a picture of Mr. O'Neill as a maverick genius, the only member of President George W. Bush's inner circle with the awareness and valor to point out that the emperor has no clothes. The second part, which is much more interesting and important, points out that -- at least the way Mr. O'Neill tells the tale -- the emperor indeed has no clothes. I was briefly tempted to suggest that every American ought to read this book before voting in the upcoming election, but I won't because I think that its credibility is strained by the many times the two main themes of the book overlap. It is hard to avoid doubts about whether certain episodes are told with the goal of painting the preordained picture of Mr. O'Neill, the hero, or of Mr. Bush, the heel. I don't see it as a matter of honesty or dishonesty, but more of the kind of filter Mr. O'Neill passed information through and what might or might not make it through. Still, it's a worthwhile read: even though it weighs in at more than 350 pages, it is a fast and compelling read. More importantly, if even half of the convincing anecdotes -- about juggling budget numbers in national addresses, of disregarding evidence that would make war in Iraq more difficult to justify, of the way the Grand Old Party has been hijacked by its most Machiavellian wing -- are true, then there is a lot we should be worrying about. And though the White House has cast Mr. O'Neill's views as sour grapes from the highest level figure to have left the administration to date, there is little reason to doubt the statements and archives of a man who has been known for the occasional verbal gaffe and a lack of peripheral vision, but not for a lack of integrity.
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Summary: Bush is King!
Review: A king is omniscient and guided by divine connection. Questioning the king is absurd, heretical and worthy of condemnation. It is always correct to find means to support the king's objectives. I know, you may be skeptical . All it takes is faith. Your life will be a lot easier if you don't bother looking for the details. Rest assured that God speaks through Bush. This explains why he doesn't need to read memos or briefs. God directs him. I was skeptical until I heard his father speak in January of 2003 in Las Vegas when President Bush 41 stated that he knows nobody that God speaks through more clearly than his son, our "president" President 43. If you have ever listened to Bush and heard a vacuous echo , as if he only has a few statements that he can repeat again and again and that he isn't really thinking for himself, then you are listening too closely. This book will illustrate the process that Bush uses to prepare his strategic platforms. It may be different from how you think. As another reviewer points out, Bush is breaking new ground so his thinking shouldn't be compared to previous presidents. This reviewer is right. Bush is not a president, leading through informed council-he is our countries first king, leading through divine guidance. God speaks through Bush. Okay, this may take the leap of faith that God is not in the details, not in nature and not in the cleanliness of integrity. Here's the key: God is in the Godlike power of modern industrialists who tell Bush that what he is doing is correct. My qualm with this book is that it is speaking to the converted, readers-people who respect facts and seek details in order to make informed decisions. We readers are surrounded by a confederacy of dunces. The leader of this confederation is somebody who can bond with their fun energy. This book fails miserably at bonding with this fun energy. Instead, this book illustrates the process Bush uses to ignore those that disagree with his corporately fabricated perspective. If this book is a fabrication, the participants should be arrested for conspiring to dethrone the spoken integrity of our king. I suggest getting the book on CD. Reading all these facts isn't much fun: it disrupts the blissful acceptance that what Bush says is Truth.
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Summary: On Day 10: Bush Targets Iraq
Review: Suskind's rendering of Mr. Paul O'Neill's tenure as Secretary of the Treasury is truly eye opening. O'Neill was on the National Security Council as the Treasury Secretary and also had unusual access to the President, in his position. O'Neill's background as a Federal Employee for many areas of the government, including Dir. of the OMB, gave O'Neill a truly unique ability to size up the economy very quickly. In addition, a 30 year friendship with Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan offered a unique opportunity to both Greenspan and O'Neill, of being able to work together to really make things happen. O'Neill, who had a personal net worth of about $200 million after finishing his 13 years with Alcoa Aluminum, had vast and broad experience in the world of real business too, not just public finance. So, he was excited about the situation and while he had a lot of reservations about accepting the job, he took it. The book tells an amazing story of a President that had little or no real interest in the economy. At first it seemed to O'Neill that it was unusual that the President did not ask him relevant questions about the economy. But then, O'Neill figured out, he just did not know what questions to ask. That he was grossly unprepared to be President of the United States, and that he did not seem to really be calling the shots. In the end, O'Neill, who tried to do wonderful things, was undercut by the ONLY 2 policies that the Bush administration really had, namely: 1) A big and immediate tax cut and 2) Get control of Iraq. Yes, in fact as early as the very first cabinet meeting, 10 days after Bush assumed the office, he announced those were his priorities. Nothing else really mattered, except maybe Cheney's energy policy. And so, the Bush '43 Presidency went blithely along, with no Foreign Policy to speak of, no Domestic Economic Policy, no real agenda, except to cut taxes and take out Iraq. The entire first third or so of the Administration was an effort to muster public support for a war, that they clearly were shown by intelligence briefs, did not have what they thought it had. As we know now, they had nothing. Finally, in December of 2003, President Bush fired Mr. O'Neill. Upon being asked to reflect upon his tenure, he was asked by the author, Ron Suskind what at this point could make a difference to help the resilient American economy recover. O'Neill answered, "Truth," he said, mostly to himself. "Just Truth." The book reveals an administration that is almost impossible to believe, but is true. If the machinations of Washington politics are of interest to you, this is the book to read.
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Summary: Read it
Review: The Prince of Loyalty should be read by everyone in America. What we liberals hate is that Bush lied about The War. He aslo lied about being a Vietnam veternarian. He should be Called The Prince of Lies, and not The PRince Of Loaylty!!!! LIAR!!!
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Summary: A Stunning Portrait
Review: I was fascinated by this book. Prior to reading it, I didn't know much about Paul O'Neill, the person. O'Neill is a man who is driven by the truth. He takes hard data and makes pragmatic decisions after analyzing it carefully. Unfortunately, this style clashes with the highly ideological Bush administration. From the beginning, O'Neill was shocked by the ignorance of the President. Bush never read the reports O'Neill sent and didn't even bother to read the newspapers (yes you may be better informed than the President). He only listed in a bored and disengaged way. In other word, the administration is adrift without a rudder. It's no wonder that lots of unfortunate decisions have been made. By reading this book, you can gain an inside view of what is happening inside the White House. You can see how this disfunctional administration is controlled by the political arm headed by Karl Rove and Dick Cheney, and how they viciously pursue their radical right agenda without much concern for the real world or hard facts. If you care about the future of America, you should pick this up before the election, so that you can make an informed choice.
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