Well, it wasn’t exactly a fireside chat.
President Bush addressed the nation tonight and warned of impending doom unless we unquestioningly accept his $ 700 billion bailout plan:
WASHINGTON — President Bush appealed to the nation Wednesday night to support a $700 billion plan to avert a financial meltdown on Wall Street, and he invited both major presidential candidates to join him and Congressional leaders at the White House on Thursday to forge a bipartisan compromise.
Warning that “a long and painful recession” could occur if Congress does not act quickly, Mr. Bush said the consequences could play out in “a distressing scenario,” including potential bank failures, job losses and inability for ordinary Americans to borrow money to buy cars or send their children to college.
“Fellow citizens, we must not let this happen,” he said.
So, you know, let’s give unprecedented unchecked authority to the Secretary of the Treasury and throw in a $ 700 billion check just for good measure.
All on George W. Bush’s say-so.
Sorry, I don’t think so.
September 25th, 2008 at 10:42 am
The smart move would be to table any action until after the election.
With Wall Street staring down the barrels of an Obama Administration ready to pile on more regulation, those bankers would find some private sector means of servicing their bad investments, really fast.
Oddly, Obama could have seized on this issue and rode it to victory, but it appears his team is singing the bailout song, too.
The fat that there is not a significant difference in response from the two major parties is a reflection of how corrupt our political system has become.
CLEAN HOUSE! Vote to remove EVERY incumbent until we get political leadership that is responsive to the PEOPLE and not puppets of the robber barons.
September 27th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
[...] George Bush’s Thursday night speech wasn’t very persuasive, because voters continue to oppose the financial industry bailout plan [...]
September 28th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
That Herbert Hoover analogy must refer to the 1932 Reconstruction Finance Corp which also loaned a bundle of borrowed money to banks and businesses, and is (wrongly) thought of today as a New Deal innovation.
It certainly can’t refer to Hoover’s push to raise the top tax rate up from 25% to 63% in June 1932, or to his nasty Smoot-Hawley tariff of June 1930 that caused world trade and prices to implode. Since Jack Kennedy died, the two Parties have switched sides on tax rates and tariffs, oddly enough.