Take a gander at this blog post by Steve Benen — an exchange he had with Bruce Bartlett, who was one of the main economic advisers to Presidents Reagan and Bush (the first Bush).
Among the many things that bothered me about the Bush-Cheney regime was its almost childish insistence in its own infallibility. I was and still am baffled by Conservative friends who found it an admirable character trait to refuse to admit error, even while abandoning Plan A for Plan B. I understand as a political strategy why Dick Cheney might think it wise to sell that image, even though obviously very little that administration did went the way they wanted it to. I just don't get why some people think that's commendable.