Beltway Conservatives Take Swings At Bush

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank's write-up on a recent Cato forum:

Former Reagan aide Bruce Bartlett, author of the new book "Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy" called the administration "unconscionable," "irresponsible," "vindictive" and "inept."

Conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan, author of the forthcoming "The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It; How to Get It Back" called Bush "reckless" and "a socialist," and accused him of betraying "almost every principle conservatism has ever stood for."

David Boaz, Cato's executive vice president, blamed Bush for "a 48 percent increase in spending in just six years," a "federalization of public schools" and "the biggest entitlement since LBJ."