Bruce Bartlett

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Bruce Bartlett, an American conservative economist, is an online journalist for Forbes (magazine) and the CapitalGainsAndGames.com blog. He had written for Townhall.com and had written a column represented by Creators Syndicate, but went to blogging rather than traditional columns in 2007. Previously, was a senior fellow for the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), from which he was fired after ten years, over criticism of the George W. Bush Administration. NCPA said, in 2005, that his book, The Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy,was "an evaluation of the motivations and competencies of politicians rather than an analysis of public policy." The final issue appeared, to the New York Times, that he had written 'that George W. Bush is not one of them [conservatives] and never has been,' citing the administration's positions on education, campaign finance, immigration, government spending and regulation. The choice 'of a patently unqualified crony (Harriet Miers) for a critical position on the Supreme Court was the final straw,'" [1] In speaking of the 2010 firing of David Frum by the American Enterprise Institute described the key issue in 2005 as his criticism of Medicare Part D.

But now I see that I was just the first to suffer from a closing of the conservative mind. Rigid conformity is being enforced, no dissent is allowed, and the conservative brain will slowly shrivel into dementia if it hasn't already. Sadly, there is no place for David and me to go. The donor community is only interested in financing organizations that parrot the party line, such as the one recently established by McCain economic adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin.[2]

Before NCPA, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the U.S. Treasury Department during the George H.W. Bush Administration (1988-1993), and as a senior policy analyst in Office of Policy Development of the Ronald Reagan White House (1987-1988). Before that Administration, he was a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and earlier held various Congressional positions.

From 1981 to 1983, he was on the staff of the Joint Economic Committee, becoming its executive director. Before that, he was chief legislative assistant for Sen. Roger Jepsen of Iowa. In 1977, he went to work for Rep. Jack Kemp of New York as a staff economist He was a legislative assistant for Ron Paul in 1976.

In March 2010, has questioned what he believes to be the firing of David Frum by the American Enterprise Institute.[3]. He drew a parallel between Frum's case and his firing by NCPA.

He has also questioned the FairTax proposal.

References

  1. Richard W. Stevenson (18 October 2005), "In Sign of Conservative Split, a Commentator Is Dismissed", New York Times
  2. Bruce Bartlett (25 October 2010), David Frum and the Closing of the Conservative Mind
  3. Bruce Bartlett (26 March 2010), Did AEI Muzzle Its Scholars?, CapitalGainsAndGames