Bush reconciles with market meltdown
Ben Feller (AP)
Issue date: 9/19/08 Section: News
WASHINGTON (AP) - Eager to show that he feels people's pain, President Bush scuttled a political fundraising trip Thursday to tell the country his administration is working feverishly to calm turmoil in the financial markets
Bush was supposed to spend the day in Alabama and Florida raising money for Republicans and talking energy policy. He canceled his trip and sent Vice President Dick Cheney to sub for him at the fundraisers to focus on the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression.
"The American people are concerned about the situation in our financial markets and our economy," Bush said. "And I share their concerns."
The tumult in financial markets and the disappearance of corporate giants have shaken people's faith in the economy. On Wall Street, the fear is that more significant financial companies will fall, causing a spillover effect within the United States and on world markets.
In brief formal remarks outside the Oval Office, Bush sought to show that the administration is moving swiftly and aggressively by taking "extraordinary measures."
Earlier this month, the administration took over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. At the start of this week, the Federal Reserve rescued American International Group Inc., an insurance giant, from bankruptcy by granting an emergency $85 billion loan that gives the government an 80 percent stake in the company.
On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission tightened rules on short selling, the practice of betting that a stock will fall.
And Thursday, the Federal Reserve pumped $55 billion in temporary reserves into the markets after coordinated action with the central banks of other nations.
The White House says the moves will help protect the broader economy and therefore everyday life. But the president used language that resonates more with market analysts than the public.
He promised that the "markets are adjusting" - a term suggesting the White House hopes that a temporary correction is underway, not a sustained slide.
Bush was supposed to spend the day in Alabama and Florida raising money for Republicans and talking energy policy. He canceled his trip and sent Vice President Dick Cheney to sub for him at the fundraisers to focus on the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression.
"The American people are concerned about the situation in our financial markets and our economy," Bush said. "And I share their concerns."
The tumult in financial markets and the disappearance of corporate giants have shaken people's faith in the economy. On Wall Street, the fear is that more significant financial companies will fall, causing a spillover effect within the United States and on world markets.
In brief formal remarks outside the Oval Office, Bush sought to show that the administration is moving swiftly and aggressively by taking "extraordinary measures."
Earlier this month, the administration took over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. At the start of this week, the Federal Reserve rescued American International Group Inc., an insurance giant, from bankruptcy by granting an emergency $85 billion loan that gives the government an 80 percent stake in the company.
On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission tightened rules on short selling, the practice of betting that a stock will fall.
And Thursday, the Federal Reserve pumped $55 billion in temporary reserves into the markets after coordinated action with the central banks of other nations.
The White House says the moves will help protect the broader economy and therefore everyday life. But the president used language that resonates more with market analysts than the public.
He promised that the "markets are adjusting" - a term suggesting the White House hopes that a temporary correction is underway, not a sustained slide.
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