FORT WORTH — Some people are criticizing President Barack Obama's handling of the economy, but George W. Bush will not be one of them, the former president said Tuesday.

One day after Obama announced a $50 billion plan to create jobs by rebuilding roads, railways and runways, Bush told an audience at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel that he doesn't believe that the federal government can "grow itself" out of the economic mess and should focus on stimulating entrepreneurship and small-business growth.

But he avoided directly attacking Obama's policies.

"I don't think it's befitting the office of the presidency to go out and be criticizing my successor," he said. "I didn't like it when some of my predecessors — a predecessor — criticized me."

Bush, who lives in Dallas, came to Fort Worth to speak to about 700 people at a fundraiser for scholarships for the Tarrant County College Foundation. He offered homespun humor on his adjustment to private life and recounted memorable moments from his time in the Oval Office.

"Remember the guy who threw the shoe?" Bush asked, referring to an incident in Iraq in 2008. "It was the weirdest moment of my presidency. It was like Ted Williams, who said he could see the stitches on the baseball. It was coming at me in slow motion."

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