Former President George W. Bush and pastor Rick Warren said they hope the tax cuts continue under President Obama’s administration, among several comments made last night at Saddleback’s Civil Leadership Forum.
“We’d like to see those continue,” Warren responded. “Yeah, I would too,” Bush said.
The tax cuts will expire at the end of the year, and Congress is debating whether to extend them.
Warren and Bush joked like old friends, giving each other a high five and fist bumping at one point. “I have known this man for some time, and he has a wicked wit,” Warren said.
Bush talked about some of the struggles he refers to in his new memoir Decision Points. “My love for alcohol was replacing my love for a lot of things, my love for my family, my love for my God,” he said.
Bush spoke about the impact of prayer during his time in office and how it made the White House “joyous.” “One of the biggest surprise if not the biggest surprise was the power of prayer of strangers and friends,” Bush said, as a protester appeared to yell in the background. “You think you got it tough? Imagine the risen Lord, how he felt.”
Bush reads voraciously (including the Bible every morning) and said he doesn’t watch television except for the occasional sports game.
“I think religion is discipline,” he said. I think you have to be disciplined, particularly when you’re being bombarded with stuff.”
