This is a partial transcript from "Your World with Neil Cavuto," November 15, 2005, that was edited for clarity.
NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: The president's approval ratings, despite this big trip in Asia, still pretty low. Is it because he's doing a bad job or is because he simply won't toot his own horn?
I sat down with former GE honcho Jack Welch, who says the president is missing a big opportunity to score some major points.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACK WELCH, FORMER CHAIRMAN & CEO, GENERAL ELECTRIC: President Bush, after 9/11, put a tax bill through that really supported capital formation, risk-taking. We have created two million jobs a year after 9/11. This is an incredible accomplishment.
CAVUTO: So, why isn't it out there?
WELCH: He is not talking about it enough.
Ronald Reagan talked about everything he ever did over and over and over again. I think Bush might get bored saying it. I think Bush is a more humble fellow. I think he's got to get out there and talk about: "We haven't been hit on our soil. We are doing the best job we know how. We're never safe, fully. We have created jobs."
Go to France and see the riots in the streets. I was in France that week. And all anybody wanted to talk about in Europe — you know, in Sweden, they have got 18 percent of the population are immigrants, living separately.
In Germany, they have got all the Turks and the immigrant workers. Everybody is going, "Are we next?" Because they have such massive unemployment.
We have 4.9, 5 percent unemployment. He ought to be standing on a soapbox talking about that, after we have been hit with 9/11. It's an incredible economic performer in this country. Why? Because he changed the capital formation laws, with capital gains tax, venture capitalists we have.
We just came back from a book tour, my wife and I. We went to 35 business schools, over 25,000 kids. One in five are going to go start their own business. In France, they just did a poll: 76 percent of the of the kids 15 to 30 want to work as civil servants. Think of it.
You couldn't find eight out of 10 kids in America who want to go work in the government. They just wouldn't find them. They want to start their own business. They got tax laws that allow them to do it. We got flexible labor laws that allow us to hire and move people out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAVUTO: All right, so, is Jack right?
Let's ask the gang from "Bulls & Bears," Tobin Smith, the editor of ChangeWave Research, RealMoney.com columnist Gary B. Smith, Scotty Bleier, the president of Hybrid Investors, and "Bulls & Bears" host Brenda Buttner.
Is Jack right, Brenda?
BRENDA BUTTNER, FOX NEWS SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: He absolutely is.
He absolutely is. I want to see some Texas-sized bragging. The Democrats brag about what they have done, about what they haven't done. And President Bush should be out there. The economy is clearly a success. He should be selling it, not only to the American people, but to his own party. What's going on there?
CAVUTO: Scott, so?
SCOTT BLEIER, PRESIDENT, HYBRID INVESTORS: Listen, Democrats and Republicans both do the same thing. They both tax and spend.
It's how much they tax and what they spend on that makes the difference between the two of them. Democrats would rather tax more and spend more on social programs than add a questionable value added to the society and business.
And Republicans spend money to foster business and to get the economy going. And that's the big difference. And the president has not been tooting his own horn. And you hearken back to Harry Truman. He presided over a huge beginning postwar boom. And he was hated at the time because of the Korean War.
CAVUTO: Gary B. Smith, is it a fault of a president not trumpeting enough of what he is getting done?
GARY B. SMITH, REALMONEY.COM: Well, it is certainly a fault when his poll numbers drop as low as President Bush's, you know, particularly, you know, you get back to the fact, as Jack pointed out, when people wake up in the morning, yes, they care about the avian flu and, yes, they care about terrorism, but, basically, they care about having a job and making sure their paycheck can actually mean something.
And, you know, Jack pointed out the unemployment rate. It's lower than the average has been for both the '70s, '80s, and '90s. And inflation, whether by luck or by Alan Greenspan, has remained low. So, all those things, people have a job and their dollar goes far enough to buy stuff, is all good stuff.
And, as Brenda, you know, pointed out and Scott, he's just not saying enough to tout that record.
CAVUTO: So, Tobin, why is he in the basement with these ratings?
TOBIN SMITH, PRESIDENT, CHANGEWAVE RESEARCH: Well, Neil, I really do think, you know, we sort of need an extreme makeover here for the president.
He has lost his ability to sell. I mean, his dad has become best buddies with Clinton. Have him spend a weekend with Clinton, baby. You are going to learn how to sell. I think he is embarrassed by this.
And, I think it's a lot of style points. I mean, I really do think that he has got to learn to look people in the eye, to not apologize, to be able to be a president who says, guys, keep your eye on the ball.
CAVUTO: A little more Ronald Reagan.
BUTTNER: Absolutely.
T. SMITH: I mean, his hero is Ronald Reagan. So, I'm mystified.
BUTTNER: Well, he should be taking a page out of Ronald Reagan's playbook. Instead, he's taking one out of his father's. He's going overseas, as his father did, looking for foreign successes to basically make up for...
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: I think it's the Bush family. They have trouble bragging.
(LAUGHTER)
BLEIER: Listen, let's look at the bigger picture of the stock market and the economy.
The stock market has held up, and the economy has held up through some of the hardest things to deal with that we have seen in decades.
CAVUTO: Yes. Yes.
BLEIER: And that's something. I mean, you talk about Katrina and the response to Katrina, but look at the economy holding up in the midst of that and all the other things.
So, yes, it's time to really go out there and toot the horn.
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: Gary, is it too late for the president to do that, though?
G. SMITH: Is it too late? Absolutely not.
And, you know, the other thing that is kind of surprising is that, you know, we talk about the whole Bush family kind of failure to communicate or to brag, and I think that's partly true.
CAVUTO: Yes.
G. SMITH: You know, the Republican Party just in general.
You know, if Bush is not going to pick it up, there's a lot of races coming up over the next few years. They ought to get on the bandwagon. We saw what happened in Virginia.
CAVUTO: If he doesn't brag, someone will.
Guys, I want to thank you all, Brenda as well.
Don't forget, you can catch these illustrious folks Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. They kick off for the most powerful business block on planet Earth. We call it "Cost of Freedom." You call it making money.
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