Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush on Wednesday hailed the outcome of the Wisconsin recall election praising Governor Scott Walker for emboldening conservatives in their drive to slash spending on a national level.
Hes a courageous leader and he was rewarded for courage" Bush said on CNBCs The Kudlow Report."
In a world of dysfunction its really good that a guy like that who had the courage of his convictions and acted on them is rewarded with a victory. I dont even know why we had the recall to begin with but if there was to be one better to win by a bigger margin than he won in 2010 with a higher turnout. I think its a leading indicator of one thing which is the intensity of the conservative side of politics is now stronger than the liberal side."
The prediction might be partly wishful thinking.
In an exit poll of Wisconsin voters by ABC News a majority 51 percent to 44 percent said they would support President Obama over Republican challenger Mitt Romney if the election were held that day.
Voters also picked Obama over Romney 42 percent to 38 percent to do a better job handling the economy as well as by 46 percent to 37 percent on helping the middle class."
Bush said the recall election results which Walker won with 53 percent of the vote to Democrat Tom Barretts 46 percent represented a spanking" for unions.
Its a spanking because they made it that way" he said. They raised the stakes they made this a national campaign. All of the leadership Debbie Wasserman Schultz of the Democratic Party and the union leaders all said that all roads lead through Madison basically as it relates to the national campaign. This was a national statement."
Walkers victory Bush said also meant the Tea Party movement was alive and well.
They play a huge role in reminding people were on an unsustainable course when it comes to spending at every level and Scott Walker takes the general belief and does something really novel; he acted on it" he said.
Bush reiterated that the United States government was on an unsustainable course."
The only reason weve been allowed to stay on the course is a monetary policy of zero percent interest rates and the fact that Europe has bigger problems than we do so... were slightly larger than the next midget basically" he said.
Creating 40 cents of debt for every dollar of federal spending Bush added was not sustainable."
Never in anybodys wildest dreams could anybody say that this is sustainable so it seems to me that if you could if youre in a position of leadership you have to find creative ways to find common ground maybe through the tax code maybe looking at exemptions" he said.
Bush took a shot at cutting entitlement programs Medicare and Social Security though not by name.
If you could get a cap on entitlement spending in the out years you are going to save trillions of dollars not billions of dollars and in order to bring people along are you going to have to look at the tax code" he said. And so dealing with exemptions in some way that might satisfy the left to deal with the unsustainable entitlement problems we face. I dont know what the exact deal would be but Chris Christie is right about one thing it requires leadership."
Bush also criticized Obama for dividing" instead of finding common ground" while defending his brother former President George W. Bush.
Youre in the fourth year of your presidency it becomes unbecoming to constantly be blaming the past for your failures" he said. And its just not I dont think politically helpful to do that. And so yeah I mean I think my brother gets a bum rap but thats just the way it is."
Larry Kudlow is host of CNBCs The Kudlow Report" which airs nightly from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush on Wednesday hailed the outcome of the Wisconsin recall election praising Governor Scott Walker for emboldening conservatives in their drive to slash spending on a national level.
Hes a courageous leader and he was rewarded for courage" Bush said on CNBCs The Kudlow Report."
In a world of dysfunction its really good that a guy like that who had the courage of his convictions and acted on them is rewarded with a victory. I dont even know why we had the recall to begin with but if there was to be one better to win by a bigger margin than he won in 2010 with a higher turnout. I think its a leading indicator of one thing which is the intensity of the conservative side of politics is now stronger than the liberal side."
The prediction might be partly wishful thinking.
In an exit poll of Wisconsin voters by ABC News a majority 51 percent to 44 percent said they would support President Obama over Republican challenger Mitt Romney if the election were held that day.
Voters also picked Obama over Romney 42 percent to 38 percent to do a better job handling the economy as well as by 46 percent to 37 percent on helping the middle class."
Bush said the recall election results which Walker won with 53 percent of the vote to Democrat Tom Barretts 46 percent represented a spanking" for unions.
Its a spanking because they made it that way" he said. They raised the stakes they made this a national campaign. All of the leadership Debbie Wasserman Schultz of the Democratic Party and the union leaders all said that all roads lead through Madison basically as it relates to the national campaign. This was a national statement."
Walkers victory Bush said also meant the Tea Party movement was alive and well.
They play a huge role in reminding people were on an unsustainable course when it comes to spending at every level and Scott Walker takes the general belief and does something really novel; he acted on it" he said.
Bush reiterated that the United States government was on an unsustainable course."
The only reason weve been allowed to stay on the course is a monetary policy of zero percent interest rates and the fact that Europe has bigger problems than we do so... were slightly larger than the next midget basically" he said.
Creating 40 cents of debt for every dollar of federal spending Bush added was not sustainable."
Never in anybodys wildest dreams could anybody say that this is sustainable so it seems to me that if you could if youre in a position of leadership you have to find creative ways to find common ground maybe through the tax code maybe looking at exemptions" he said.
Bush took a shot at cutting entitlement programs Medicare and Social Security though not by name.
If you could get a cap on entitlement spending in the out years you are going to save trillions of dollars not billions of dollars and in order to bring people along are you going to have to look at the tax code" he said. And so dealing with exemptions in some way that might satisfy the left to deal with the unsustainable entitlement problems we face. I dont know what the exact deal would be but Chris Christie is right about one thing it requires leadership."
Bush also criticized Obama for dividing" instead of finding common ground" while defending his brother former President George W. Bush.
Youre in the fourth year of your presidency it becomes unbecoming to constantly be blaming the past for your failures" he said. And its just not I dont think politically helpful to do that. And so yeah I mean I think my brother gets a bum rap but thats just the way it is."
Larry Kudlow is host of CNBCs The Kudlow Report" which airs nightly from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
