Ridge: Bush Wanted Terror Threat Raised for Election

(NEWSER) - Members of President Bush’s administration today denied accusations by former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge in an upcoming book that the White House pressed him to raise the terror threat level ahead of the 2004 election. Former White House chief of staff Andrew Card and former homeland security adviser Fran Townsend both tell Politico that Bush officials did not try to use the threat level for political gain. More»

Tenet's new book says "there was never serious debate" about going to war in Iraq

(NEWSER) - George Tenet offers a scathing attack on Dick Cheney and other architects of the war in Iraq in a new book to be released Monday, the New York Times reports. The former CIA director alleges that "there was never serious debate" about whether Iraq was an imminent threat to the U.S., or discussion of containing Saddam without invading. More»

President 'wanted to show who was in charge,' he writes in 'Decision Points'

(NEWSER) - George Bush seriously considered ditching Dick Cheney for the 2004 election, he writes in his memoir, Decision Points. Cheney offered to step aside and Bush—seeking "to demonstrate I was in charge"—explored the possibility of replacing him with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist before deciding to ask Cheney to stay, he writes in a copy of the memoir obtained by the New York Times . More»

Deregulation caused disaster, Klein says

(NEWSER) - The massive oil spill in the Gulf isn't President Obama's Hurricane Katrina, it's George W. Bush's second Katrina, according to Time pundit Joe Klein. Klein, appearing on the Chris Matthews Show, blamed the spill on Bush-era regulations, and Dick Cheney's "deregulation, and lording over the Minerals Management" office, Mediaite notes. And even if it was Obama's Katrina, it's just not the same thing, argues Klein. In that disaster, "people were actually dying in the streets." More»

Ex-president says he won't personally make trouble for Obama

(NEWSER) - George W. Bush today offered his first public endorsement of Dick Cheney’s repeated attacks on President Obama. “I’m glad Cheney is out there,” Bush declared at a reunion breakfast for administration alumni. But he said he would personally continue avoiding the spotlight. “I didn't like it when a certain former president—and it wasn't 41 or 42—made my life miserable,” 43 said, referring to Jimmy Carter. More»