Last night, former President Bush spoke out for the first time since leaving office on the major issues facing his successor. Many of his comments, made at the annual Manufacturer and Business Association meeting in Erie, Pa., were met with frequent applause and even cheers.

On fixing the economy:

“I know it’s going to be the private sector that leads this country out of the current economic times we’re in. You can spend your money better than the government can spend your money. . . . Government does not create wealth. The major role for the government is to create an environment where people take risks to expand the job rate in the United States.”

On health care reform:

“There are a lot of ways to remedy the situation without nationalizing health care. I worry about encouraging the government to replace the private sector when it comes to providing insurance for health care.”

On interrogation techniques:

“The way I decided to address the problem was twofold: One, use every technique and tool within the law to bring terrorists to justice before they strike again.”

On closing Guantanamo:

“I told you I’m not going to criticize my successor. I’ll just tell you that there are people at Gitmo that will kill American people at a drop of a hat and I don’t believe that persuasion [is] going to work. Therapy isn’t going to cause terrorists to change their mind.”

On the presidential election in Iran:

“Clearly, there’s a level of frustration on the Iranian streets. It looks like it’s not a very fair election.”

On the bank bailouts:

“I firmly believe it was necessary to put money in our banks to make sure our financial system did not collapse. . . . I did not want there to be bread lines, to be a great depression.”

On the housing bubble:

“We tried to reform [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] but couldn’t get it through the vested interests on Capitol Hill.”

On whether President Obama’s policies are “socialist”:

“I hear a lot of those words, but it depends on— . . . We’ll see.”