Government

Bush reflects on health policy, defends stem cell decision

In his final weeks in office, the president also acknowledges he fell short in his attempts to change the political tone in Washington.

By Doug Trapp — Posted Jan. 6, 2009

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President Bush stood by his decision-making style and his ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research but expressed some regrets about his tenure at a Dec. 18, 2008, forum organized by the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. AEI President Christopher DeMuth posed the questions, some of which were submitted by the audience.

"I have found that in order to have good decision-making and a White House that functions well, that the president needs to articulate a set of principles from which he will not defer," Bush said. He cited his policy on embryonic stem cell research as an example: "no destruction of life with federal money." But despite the principled stance driving the decision, the issue generated heated debate among his advisers, he said.

Bush acknowledged he arrived "with the idea of changing the tone in Washington and frankly didn't do a very good job of it." He also said he was disappointed in how some of his political nominees had their reputations questioned even before receiving hearings.

"It's going to be hard to attract good people to the political process if people show up and feel like that their integrity or decency will be, you know, challenged at every turn," he said.

Bush also said health system reform should increase choice and competition in health care, a principle that he tried to instill through the Medicare prescription drug benefit and the promotion of health savings accounts. "I am concerned about government pricing drugs to the point where drug manufacturers don't have enough capital to keep reinvesting in new discoveries." Boosting competition is a better way to keep prices lower, he said.

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