Prometheus 6

Quote of note:

Several governors complimented Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, a former Utah governor, as an ally inside the White House on the Medicaid issue.

Not Schweitzer, who likened the secretary to ranch hands who "ride a brand."

"Once they come in and work for your ranch, they toe the company line," Schweitzer said. "He seemed to be riding for the president's brand right now."

Montana Governor Isn't Cowed by Bush
Democrat likens pitch for Social Security plan to livestock auction that fails to tempt buyers.
By Peter Wallsten
Times Staff Writer
March 1, 2005

WASHINGTON —  President Bush often quips that the aura of the White House intimidates visitors, leaving would-be critics to express only niceties.

But the presidential mansion   and its current occupant   apparently did not have that effect Monday on Montana's new governor, who made some sharp comments after Bush tried to promote his Social Security overhaul to a group of governors consumed by other matters.

A no-nonsense rancher and wheat farmer who took office six weeks ago in a Republican state, Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer likened the president's pitch to a magic show trick featuring a rabbit in a hat.

He also compared it to a bull auction hawking lousy studs.

"I was watching the governors around the room," said Schweitzer, comparing the group to potential livestock buyers who assess the wares and express their intentions with head-nods or nose-crinkles.

"I was seeing more of this," he said, crinkling his nose as if detecting a foul odor, "than I was of this," he said, nodding his head. "I didn't see a lot of buyers in the room."

But Schweitzer compared Bush's promotion of Social Security changes to a magician with a hat in his right hand that he is waving around with "wide gestures" to distract his audience.

"Today we're talking about Social Security, something that might happen 20, 30, 40 years from now," Schweitzer said. "But guess what's really happening, over in the left hand? We're cutting Medicaid. We're cutting programs in the heartland."