WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Tuesday named Henry "Hank" Paulson as his new Treasury Secretary, enlisting one of Wall Street's most powerful players to help him claim credit for the economy's strength and lift his sagging popularity.

Did you catch that last line? I’m not positive, but that sounds a whole like conjecture, opinion, spin, or any other name you’d like to give a zinger like that.

Last time I checked, the President is supposed to have someone fill that seat when it’s vacated. And the fact that Paulson “won strong initial approval from lawmakers who must approve” tells me that there may yet be other reasons for his nomination than the one this “report” immediately tries to draw you to.

And yet another note: If Bush is mishandling the economy so bad what exactly is there to take credit for? These guys really have to get their story strait before they make up the news next time.

By the way, for the record: The economy is strong… it’s our government’s credit line that isn’t. The dollar value is falling, but it has much less to do with the dreaded Tax Cuts that you’ll hear the left screech about, and much more to do with Bush and Congress’ fool-hearty spending habits. Cut the spending, and the deficit falls while the dollar rises.