'"Since Bush has been president, over five million people have slipped into poverty, nearly seven million Americans have lost their health insurance, median household income has gone down by nearly thirteen hundred dollars, three million manufacturing jobs have been lost, three million American workers have lost their pensions, home foreclosures are now the highest on record, the person savings rate is below zero -- which hasn't happened since the Great Depression, the real earnings of college graduates have gone down by about five percent in the last few years, entry level wages for male and female high school graduates have fallen by over three percent, wages and salaries are now at their lowest share of GDP since 1929.

Now I will concede that President Bush has done a wonderful job for the wealthiest people in this country and for the CEOs of large corporations. If you receive this position -- very important position as head of OMB -- are you prepared to go into the Oval Office and say, "Mr. President, you have to represent more than the wealthiest 1% ... ?"

It was May 27, 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War. Bush was 12 days away from losing his student deferment from the draft at a time when Americans were dying in combat at the rate of 350 a week. The unit Bush wanted to join offered him the chance to fulfill his military commitment at a base in Texas. It was seen as an escape route from Vietnam by many men his age, and usually had a long waiting list.

Bush had scored only 25 percent on a "pilot aptitude" test, the lowest acceptable grade. But his father was then a congressman from Houston, and the commanders of the Texas Guard clearly had an appreciation of politics.

Bush was sworn in as an airman the same day he applied. His commander, Col. Walter B. "Buck" Staudt, was apparently so pleased to have a VIP's son in his unit that he later staged a special ceremony so he could have his picture taken administering the oath, instead of the captain who actually had sworn Bush in. Later, when Bush was commissioned a second lieutenant by another subordinate, Staudt again staged a special ceremony for the cameras, this time with Bush's father the congressman – a supporter of the Vietnam War – standing proudly in the background....

Among the questions Bush had to answer on his application forms was whether he wanted to go overseas. Bush checked the box that said: "do not volunteer." Washington Post, 7/28/1999