President George W. Bush is headed toward ending up the most disliked president in American history, with an approval rating which has slowly declined to somewhere around 25%. The media scorns him, the liberals scoff at him, and he's still a favorite mud-slinging target of David Letterman. He doesn't ad lib well. He is unable to successfully tell a joke. But you do have to admit that the guy has some stones.

Does a soon to be former president with a spine but no friends, stand a chance at success in the presidential memoirs market? According to an article by Duncan Greenberg at Forbes.com, George W. Bush might see some better offers if he puts off accepting them for a while.

It's pretty much a given that George Bush isn't cut out for the public speaking circuit. I've never seen him attend a speaking engagement with anything akin to poise, power, or emotion. He certainly can't give insight into team building. He'd not be considered an authority on the art of negotiation. About the only point of expertise that I think G.W. could successfully lecture on would be the proposition of setting your jaw and holding your ground. No, there's not much future in public speaking for our pending former president.

Perhaps it would be best if George W. Bush sets his sights upon a few ineffectual board appointments and some blessings of coin from the honorarium crowd. I'm sure that many strong minds among the conservative circles are hoping that their associative attachments to George W. Bush shall quickly fade away. The report from Forbes states; "Laura Bush will write her memoirs first. She reportedly has been entertaining publishers at the White House to discuss a possible book deal, which will likely fetch at least $5 million." I personally think that G.W. should let his wife's book clear the shelves before he even takes a stab at attempting anything like it.

It's really of no earthly consequence what George W. Bush chooses to do in his semi-retirement. I don't read books from former presidents, so I honestly don't care if G.W. authors one or not. However, there is one thing that I'm almost certain of when it comes to the subject of the memoirs of George W. Bush: If he authors them, and they're published, and they sell, and you read them, I believe that you can rest easy in the assurance of this one single fact: President George W. Bush really couldn't care less whether or not you have ever liked what he has found necessary to say to you.

That's exactly why I still like him. The polls be damned.

Last Friday, after asking reporters to turn off their cameras, President Bush offered his take on the country's current financial crisis. Amid appreciative giggles from his fellow diners, Bush announced that "Wall Street got drunk [...] and now it's got a hangover." He then went on to ask "How long will it [take to] sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments?" Finally, he noted that "We got a housing issue...not in Houston, and evidently not in Dallas, because Laura's over there trying to buy a house."

Here's the video (and some commentary from The Young Turks):




In addition to the President's apparent callousness regarding the country's subprime housing disaster, his seeming ignorance of the long-term implications of his policies is absolutely stunning. No wonder he wanted the cameras off!

Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. He's done some silly, stupid things while under the influence, but he's never tanked the economy!

The main challenge facing presidential hopefuls John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is to convince voters that they understand the needs of average Americans. Yet the more voters get to know them, the clearer it becomes that they lead lives that are far from ordinary.

McCain, Obama and Clinton all have prevailed against daunting odds to be among the most powerful people in the country. Their success has also made them celebrities and they have made tidy sums of money writing best-selling books. They have received a slew of awards from their many admirers and have been both lampooned and cheered as guests on "Saturday Night Live."

To understand what these presidential contenders will do if elected, voters need to first examine their respective political records. But we can also glean insights from taking a look at the personal experiences and individual choices these three remarkable people have made:

The latest newsworthy item in the U.S. presidential race is the statement by Cindy McCain, wife of Republican candidate John McCain, that she will not release her personal tax returns. On Thursday's Today show (video below), she says that it's a privacy issue and she would not release her tax returns, even if her husband was elected president.

Of course, the Democrats are making a big deal about this, saying that when John Kerry was campaigning for president, his wife released her separate tax returns. So what? She made her choice, and Cindy McCain is making hers. It's suggested that John McCain is not making "full disclosure" by not releasing his wife's separate tax returns.

I say too bad. Even though he may have benefited from her family's fortune, the law doesn't say she has to release her tax returns. That is her private information and she is not the candidate. Would it make for some interesting reading? Probably. But I don't have any problem with Cindy McCain refusing to produce her tax returns. What is there really to be gained from seeing them, other than to fulfill our curiosity?


Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.