Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush gave a stunningly frank assessment of the Obama presidency to the libertarian-conservative site NewsMax yesterday.

From NewsMax:

"instead of trying to solve that problem [jobs, economic growth] with common-sense American solutions, [he] is trying to take advantage of it to redefine who we are as a nation."

Bush said he tries to avoid such labels but went on to say: "If he believes that government ought to consume 40 percent of the economy, of the economic output, I don’t know what you’d call that, but it’s not American."

"If he believes that redistributing wealth will create more prosperity for more people, that’s been tried and it’s failed. What he should believe is that the interaction of millions of people freely pursuing their dreams will create more prosperity for more people than any government program. That’s the American way."

Bush went on to call Obama's inner circle of advisors in the White House, "all academics and political hacks."