http://disqus.com/people/Robert_Banghart/enFri, 05 Dec 2008 11:53:51 -0000http://blog.tomevslin.com/2008/12/treasury-trashe.html#comment-4205488Your reply intrigues me. <br><br>You say that you didn’t mean it was a plot against W but come back a sentence later and say “…perhaps exacerbated by lower level officials wanting to curry favor with the new administration…” Doesn’t “wanting to curry favor with the new administration” by damaging the legacy of the current administration amount to a plot?<br><br>In my day, regardless of who suggested any policy, it went through multiple layers of review to insure that it met the criteria set by the administration before it saw the light of day. Lower level mistakes or plots were mostly eliminated as they worked their way through the review process. (We used to refer to those reviewers as the “No men.”) If actions were announced or taken that adversely affected Ronald Reagan’s legacy, there was only one man in the end to blame – Ronald Reagan. It was the whole “the buck stops here” thing.<br><br>It’s clear from your original post that you think that the handling of this matter can only adversely affect the legacy of President Bush and benefit that of incoming President Obama. In your reply you emphasis that, “It IS another example of incompetence on his watch…” That sounds an awful lot like the old passive voice deflection of responsibility phrase “mistakes were made.” Whose incompetence are you referring to? It sounds to me like you think it is that of George Bush. If so, why not just come out and say, “This is another example of George Bush’s incompetence” and be done with it?Robert_BanghartFri, 05 Dec 2008 11:53:51 -0000http://blog.tomevslin.com/2008/12/treasury-trashe.html#comment-4198054I used to work for Reagan and it is my recollection that the Secretary of the Treasury is selected by the President and the Secretary and the Treasury Department are answerable to him. Who then, in your opinion, is responsible if "'The plan remains in discussion and may not be made final before the Bush administration's term ends in January.' Good way to make sure we don't have any recovery in the housing market on W's watch," and why would he/they do that?Robert_BanghartThu, 04 Dec 2008 23:25:51 -0000