One Thing Not to Blame Bush For

Andrew is annoyed:

And when you add in state taxes, those earning over $250,000 will have a marginal tax rate around 60 percent. There’s no point in disguising this: Obama will punish those who succeed in order to funnel benefits to those who haven’t. Yes: he’s a liberal. But Bush never dealt with the fiscal reality – preferring to borrow the money from the Chinese. In that sense, these hikes are Bush’s hikes as well.

I too am annoyed. But if there’s one thing Bush deserves a pass on, it’s dealing with the reality of social entitlement spending. He tried on Social Security. This was supposed to be his big legacy — finally facing down the most untenable, costly, and inefficient portion of Old Democratic Guvmint. He was chewed up and spit out, plain and simple. Should he have tried harder?