Transcript of interview with President Bush

CNBC: Mr. President, by a host of measures, whether it be the price in oil or whether it be unemployment, it's being confirmed by the stock market even today, 12,000 on the Dow, the economy is performing well, and yet more than half of Americans, 53 percent in a recent poll, disapprove of your handling of the economy.

Pres. BUSH: Yeah.

CNBC: Why the disconnect?

Pres. BUSH: You know, I guess it's--we're in a time of war. I mean, this is--you know, people turn on their TV screens and see these acts of violence in Iraq or Afghanistan or in other countries, and it can be unsettling. I think the other thing is, Maria, is that we got--you know, the gasoline prices are just starting to drop, and that'll help people feel better about the economy. I think there are some people that are concerned about the fact that people are changing jobs quite often in our economy. And so I guess there's a variety of factors. But the good news is the economy is strong. And so, you know, I can't--I don't sit around fretting based upon, you know, an opinion poll, because I am comforted by the fact knowing that more and more Americans are working, 6.6 million Americans, new jobs have been created since August of 2003. And the other factor that's really important, it's what I keep talking about, this increase in real wages by 2.2 percent over the last 12 months, that's good news. It means people have got more money in their pocket, and that's really what I want to see.

CNBC: And typically, they will vote with their wallets, what do you think they'll do in two weeks for the midterm elections? Or is it really a referendum on Iraq?

Pres. BUSH: No, I think it's a referendum on a lot of things. I definitely think the economy is an issue. We'll just see what happens. I believe we'll hold the House and the Senate. I--no question that a strong economy is going to help our candidates, primarily because they have got something to run on, they can say our economy's good because I voted for tax relief. And listen, the entrepreneurs are investing, small businesses are growing, and tax relief is a part of the reason why our economy is doing so well.

CNBC: If you do retain both houses, are you going to push to get the capital gains and maybe their tax cuts permanent?

Pres. BUSH: I will. I think we ought to get rid of the death tax, I think that's a bad tax. I would like to see us make sure that the reductions in the capital gains and dividends are permanent, because I believe when you reduce the tax on dividends and reduce the tax on capital gains, it encourages investment. And the more investment we have, the more likely it is that there will be job growth. What I'm interested in is people working.

CNBC: How do you think the voter feels when he or she sees stories about corporate CEO compensation, one guy pulling down a billion dollars in pay packages from the health insurance company or hundreds of millions of dollars in pay from an oil company executive. And how--what do you think about when you hear stories like that?

Pres. BUSH: I am--first, I will temper my remarks by saying I don't think government should control salaries, but I would hope shareholders would take a close look at some of these compensation packages that they pay these corporate executives who are able to make money when the company is not doing well sometimes. I think that--I get astounded by the size of the pay packages, I'm--consider me floored when I see guys making billion dollars for--as a CEO of a company.

CNBC: I mean, is anybody worth $400 million?

Pres. BUSH: I guess it depends who you are. But it seems like not. But again, one of the things about our system is we do have a corporate governance system that should work hard to make sure that the compensation packages are fair. I mean, we have a board of directors --board of directors should serve on a company--serve a company and then watch the shareholders' money, that's what they ought to be doing, and these compensation packages can get out of hand. I do believe in incentive pay, I think that's good, just want to make sure the incentive pay is rational.

CNBC: Speaking of wealth, there's so much change in terms of technology on society, on business; I'm curious, have you ever Googled anybody? Do you use Google?

Pres. BUSH: Occasionally. One of the things I've used on the Google is to pull up maps. It's very interesting to see that. I forgot the name of the program, but you get the satellite and you can--like, I kind of like to look at the ranch on Google, reminds me of where I want to be sometimes. Yeah, I do it some. I'm not a--I tend not to e-mail or--not only tend not to e-mail, I don't e-mail, because of the different record requests that can happen to a president. I don't want to receive e-mails because, you know, there's no telling what somebody's e-mail may--it would show up as, you know, a part of some kind of a story, and I wouldn't be able to say, `Well, I didn't read the e-mail.' `But I sent it to your address, how can you say you didn't?' So, in other words, I'm very cautious about e-mailing.

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