Bush: U.S. Will Work With Others On Crisis

Pledges Global Response To Credit Crunch After Meeting With Finance Ministers

(AP)  President George W. Bush and foreign financial officials displayed joint resolve Saturday to combat the unfolding economic crisis, hoping to calm investors whose panic has spread despite bold and accelerating government action.

Yet there was no concrete offer of new moves when Bush spoke on a Rose Garden stage outside the White House just after daybreak, flanked by representatives from nearly a dozen nations and international organizations.

The fresh message of the day was Mr. Bush's plea that nations work together to address the crisis, avoiding the go-it-alone protectionist trade strategies that worsened conditions during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

"In an interconnected world, no nation will gain by driving down the fortunes of another. We are in this together. We will come through it together," Mr. Bush said. "There have been moments of crisis in the past when powerful nations turned their energies against each other or sought to wall themselves off from the world. This time is different."

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the president's commitment to collaborative action was repeated and agreed to by every official and minister who took part in a private White House meeting before the statement. Participating in that session with the president were top officials from the Group of Seven powers — the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada — as well as from the European Union, World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Mr. Bush did not mention any specific action that prompted his call. But Ireland recently moved to guarantee all bank deposits, triggering similar actions in Germany and other countries concerned that nervous depositors would move their bank accounts to Ireland.

The president barely referenced a significant new step from his administration — partial nationalization of some banks. After days of speculation this move was coming, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced late Friday night that the government would buy part ownership in an array of American banks.

President Herbert Hoover tried something like that in 1932 during the Great Depression. No details were provided about how the new approach would work, only that it was similar to Britain's move to pour cash into its troubled banks in exchange for stakes in them. The U.S. government would use an unspecified portion of the $700 billion approved by Congress a week ago to purchase stocks in a wide variety of banks and other financial institutions.

The rescue program originally was sold to Congress and the public as a plan to buy mortgage-related loans from financial institutions. The goal was to remove troubled assets from those institutions' books and inspire them to restart more normal lending operations.

Congress passed the massive and hard-fought legislation, and Bush signed it. The government raised the amount of bank deposits it insured. Billions of dollars of reserves have gone into banking systems in the U.S. and other countries. Yet credit, the economy's lifeblood, has remained virtually frozen.

This paralysis in the credit markets has translated into intense turmoil in the stock markets. The Dow Jones industrial average just completed its worst week in history, plummeting more than 18 percent. Over the past year, people in the U.S. have watched $8.4 trillion drain from investment accounts and retirement savings.

So the administration decided to use the bailout bill to pump equity directly into the banks — an idea never mentioned during the congressional debate. The administration says it is authorized in an obscure corner of the 400-page legislation.

Officials are not saying how long it will take to get this program under way — just as is the case with the even more complicated effort to buy mortgage-backed securities.

Mr. Bush seemed to acknowledge that the lag is feeding anxiety on Wall Street. "These extraordinary efforts are being implemented as quickly and as effectively as possible," he said. "The benefits will not be realized overnight."

The White House session with President Bush followed a three-hour meeting Friday night of G-7 finance ministers. The president largely echoed their terse statement, saying the nations have together pledged to "do what it takes to resolve this crisis."

Among their promises are preventing the failure of major banks, unfreezing credit markets, bolstering deposit insurance programs, getting the battered mortgage financing system to operate more normally and working with poorer but fast-growing nations that also are feeling the pinch.

To address this last pledge, Paulson scheduled a meeting Saturday evening of the Group of 20 countries — which include the G-7 plus the world's biggest developing countries such as China, Brazil and India — to explain recent actions by the U.S. and other wealthy allies.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said she saw the discussions as a way to help emerging-market countries understand actions by wealthier nations so they can be included in solutions and "if they wish, adopt the same principles."

All the representatives are in Washington for weekend meetings of the 185-nation International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

In a briefing for the IMF's policy-setting board, Paulson said that after the immediate crisis "we must turn our attention to longer-term reforms to modernize our outdated financial regulatory structure."

It was the 22nd day among the past 27 that Mr. Bush had spoken about the financial crisis, since evidence first arose that the year-old subprime mortgage mess was evolving into a broader and more calamitous meltdown. After the almost 40-minute meeting and his six-minute statement, the president left the White House for a nearly two-hour mountain bike ride in the nearby Virginia woods.

Mr. Bush also addressed the crisis in his weekly radio address, as did Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden in delivering his party's response.

Biden criticized Republican nominee John McCain's proposal to solve the problem in part by having the government buy bad home-loan mortgages at full face value and renegotiate them at a reduced price.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama focused on words of calm.

"I know these are difficult times. I know folks are worried," he was to say at a rally in Philadelphia, according to prepared remarks released by his campaign. "But I also know that now is not the time for fear or panic. Now is the time for resolve and steady leadership. Because I know we can steer ourselves out of this crisis."

[saintpeterii]

Goerge W Bush is a failed businessman and now is a failed president and has zero creditability domestically or internationally. The only place where his voice is welcome is in the tents of the religious fundamentalists and, only then when he is speaking in tongues. His family was prominent in the S&L Crisis I, he is a central figure in S&L Crisis II and unless more insight is shown at the present time we can expect some Bush or another to figure in S&L Crisis III. See Uncle Sam at the Spank Of America doing a new kind of investing. http://www.saintpeterii.com

[gonesouthern]

On Friday, Paulson announced the Treasury would begin buying part ownership in American banks, the first time the government has taken such action since the Depression of the 1930s.

Now if the Government would nationalize the oil companies they could pay for this mess up front.

[mominmaine]

ugh. what a mess this man has made of the world. he''s got to go down as worst president ever. really.

[hotpaulie]

It''s too bad he had to let this country go to h e l l before he looks for others who are more qualified for help.

[brianbwb-2009]

Governments that guarantee deposits without holding the banks'' senior management personally responsible for the loss of those deposits are basically giving the banks carte blanche to steal all they can.

Such a plan will not work, and will destroy any economy that does it.

The G8 has refused to guarantee loans, that is a start, now they need to refuse to guarantee stock market investments, if the consensus is to continue the illusion of "free markets", then the only logical move is to let corrupt firms fail.

[brianbwb-2009]

"It was the meltdown of the subprime mortgage market with cascading defaults that triggered the start of the credit crisis in the United States in August 2007."

This is false, the trigger was the realization that financial services firms were far over their heads in credit default swaps, and thus easy targets for collateral calls that would essentially drive them out of competition.

Subprimes were only a small part of the debt, but as usual, the poor were blamed for it, as they cannot afford the voice to call out the liars using the poor as an excuse for their corruption.

[mtminds]

Bush and Midas are very similar in opposite ways.

Despite Palin''s obvious lack of credentials to be qualified to get anywhere near the White House, she still is more qualified than the current president, GW Bush. And she and Cheney have a lot in common, they both refer to themselves as a bulldog or a pit bull dog, but her lipstick doesn''t make her growling lying face any less bearable. So if she claims to be a pit bull, why is it wrong to call a spade a spade and call her a B*tch?

[brianbwb-2009]

"Which is the real comedy show?" Posted by nomav

I have been depending on "mainstream journalism" for my dose of comedy relief for years, and they haven''t let me down yet.

See, when you tell me beforehand that it is comedy, there is an instinct to try to resist the laugh, but print and broadcast journalism purport to deliver valid journalism while spewing opinion as fact, I find this to be side-splitting humor that the comedy channels can only abstract.

[wheear]

The bottom line is that President Bush and his failed econmic plans are the reason that McCain/Palin will lose this election. Years back when this started spinning out of control it was clear that we were on the wrong course. Bush could have redirected things when gas began climbing over two dollars a gallon. He was silent. Almost a year ago when mortgages began failing, there were clear signs that something needed to be done and he was silent. 4000 lost lives later, we are still in a war with no end in sight. Thousands have been laid off. Tax breaks were given to companies who sent jobs over seas. Bush was silent and so was the nation. As long as the lower and lower middle class were the only ones suffering and losing, no one cared. Now that it is clear that everyone is in financial pain, now we have a problem. There is no justification for waitng this long to fix the housing mess. It is the crux of a national crisis. Trillions of lost dollars later, the United States is still trying to decide how to fix it. What a mess.

[maggietexas4]

I cringe when I think of Bush representing us at this financial meeting with world leaders. It is embarassing but then I think of possibly Palin in the meeting and Bush doesn''t seem so bad. It would be even scarier to have a President Palin in these troubled times. We need smart educated leaders representing the USA in these meetings. . . .like Obama/Biden. I get sick when I think that some people vote for the person they want to have a beer with. I vote for who I want in a meeting with world financial leaders.

[tacitus27]

Hey W. ****! Every time you open your mouth, the market drops some more when investors hear the pathetic drivel that you are spouting. Can you please ask your daddy to round up some adults to pull your backside out of this mess so that maybe the country can survive?

[mijoka]

ONCE AGAIN THE ENTIRE WORLD MUST PAY THE BILL FOR THE MOST CORRUPTED PRESIDENT EVER

[mijoka]

Truth is the republican have a major ethical problem , Mc Cain was directly involved in defrauding the UStax payers by the billions with the saving and loan crisis , please if you were not around then check by typing the keating five on your search .Palin has abused her power and this is the team they want to run the country , PLEASE BE REAL.

[jn122736]

Bush, the decider, has now decided to let others decide, because his decisions have all been disastrous!

[book54552134]

In all the history of the Republic, only two Presidents will have left office with the value of the US economy being less than when they started.

The two -

Herbert Hoover & George Bush II.

What a pathetic legacy to leave. Problem is, it will be the American people which will have to pay, big time, for his corruption & incompetence.

[ofbyfor3]

...we''ve been involved in class warfare for most of the last 40 years, and we''ve been losing decisively.

Can there be any doubt, when virtually all...economic gains have flowed to the...top, while real wages have been stagnant since 1969?

Tax cuts that overwhelmingly favored the rich have led to wealth...being more unequally distributed than at any time since 1929.

It is the Republicans that have pursued class warfare... It''s time that we recognize this and begin to claw back some of the losses we have sustained.
Terence S.


The anti-intellectualism of the Republicans is astounding.

Average Joes...want ideas from people smarter than we are, whether they come from the left or the right. ...the Bush administration didn''t ask ''Joe Sixpack'' for advice, but...asked the best and the brightest -- I hope.

Let''s stop the dumbing down of this country.
Elaine G.


...Brooks seems to acknowledge the blatant failures of the Republican Party--... that favors fearmongering and ignorance, and...supports candidates with limited education and worldviews.

This has led Republicans and this nation to ruin, and attracts the type of people who yell ''kill'' and ''terrorist'' and racial slurs at campaign rallies. They want a nation that disdains education and frowns on the educated.

We call the Navy Seals and Army Rangers ''elite.'' Shouldn''t we have someone who is elite, in terms of intellect and judgment, command them?
Robert R.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/opinion/l11brooks.html?ref=opinion

[whitemale08]

On the one hand I welcome this effort because obviously something has to be done but on the other hand we all know that Bush will have to negotiate a lesser more equal role for the United States in the world economic system.

Let''s just hope it''s not the Amero that''s being negotiated but rather a ''fixed exchanged rate'' based on type of ''gold standard'' that anchors the world''s currencies and allows each country to use it''s sovereign authority to issue credit for jobs and the improvements in infrastructure and energy developmenst for their prospective country.

[edward1975-2009]

Everybody line up and tell Bush and this spineless Congress how much you need. They''re more than happy to accomadate. After all, it''s only the taxpayers money. Who''s next.

[smurfcrusher]

All these countries and leaders working to avert a "meltdown"...

This is almost like economic food poisoning. Instead of shoveling the equivalent of pepto-bismol into the gullet of the economy, let it puke.

The economy will feel much better afterwards when it gets rid of the rotten investments.

[sinibaldi1]

I bring you my love.

Every moment
I try to remember
the light af
an hidden report,
when my memory
outshines, when
your love disappears....

Francesco Sinibaldi

[samthetvcat]

---"There have been moments of crisis in the past when powerful nations turned their energies against each other"---

Is he talking about the Great Depression when trade was important but got reduced or is he talking about something else? Why say this is if world is different, more interconnected - it''s terrifying! I hadn''t even thought about that as a possibility :(

[pvperson]

Is it mere coincidence that as McCain''''s poll numbers fell last week and his campaign changed to one of lies first and only, financial markets around the globe fell like stones? Maybe, just maybe, the entire world is so disgusted with the despicable antics of McCain/Palin that they are soured on the US and it''s economy.

[ubrew12]

Bush: "U.S. Will Work With Others On Crisis"

Thats not what the ''Bush Doctrine'' says about crisis''.

Three-fourths of the economic gains made between 2003 and 2006, the Bush ''good'' years, were made by the wealthiest 1% of Americans (according to the Economist Magazine, which is hardly a ''liberal'' rag). Think THAT has anything to do with this crisis??

[jerr11]

This economic disaster started on March 20, 2003.

That was the day that Bush decided to take the nation to war so that he could do to the US what Bin Laden did to the Soviet Union, bankrupt us in an endless war.

And now five years later, the chickens have come home to roost.

The Cowboy from Texas has decided he will ride out of office in a blaze of glory.

Thousands Dead Americans in Iraq.

The country''s economy decimated.

Millions lost their savings and retirement funds.

But hey, there''s one bright spot in all this gloom and doom!

Halliburton''s doing well!

Let''s keep this war going for another 100 years!!

Vote for McCain/Palin 08!!

[wl7bzh]

The top 1% of the population wont be broke, it will be the middle class as usual. the FAT CATS want the wealth divided 99% for them and the rest of us can fight over the scraps

Posted by pussersuggs at 08:52 PM : Oct 11, 2008

You''re almost right-But this time there will no longer be a middle class-just rich and poor.

[wl7bzh]

I bring you my love.

Every moment
I try to remember
the light af
an hidden report,
when my memory
outshines, when
your love disappears....

Francesco Sinibaldi

Posted by Sinibaldi1 at 05:19 PM : Oct 11, 2008


There is great literature and poetry-then there is literary Massturbaation. Do us a favor and post these rambling disconnected thoughts elsewhere.

[mcv57]

Hyper-Inflation = worthless paper money. I wish someone would teach the public this basic fundamental principle in economics.

Worthless paper will not stop the corrupt government and corporate thief. I honestly think the White House is attempting to host a magic show that only distracts the public. Only one thing is the matter, IT''s FRAUD!

[jsl45]

George Bush, the Herbert Hoover of the 21st Century...what a disaster!!

[newz4i]

photo op, photo op - "standing" with others on the crisis.

[tincup356]

and every one laughed at Ross Perot when he told us this would all happen, maybe we should have listened when he said it was time to take a shovel and clean the barn.we better start passing out shovels now and dethrone every one of those greedy money sucking heathens that hold offices in Congress, before they take our right to vote away like the rest of our rights that they have taken in the name to fight terrorism.Problem is the terrorists don''t wear AK 47''s, they sit in congress and use greed and the mighty lobby dollar to bring us to our knees.

[tincup356]

gee sure looks like a good time to quit wasting money , so let call a screeching halt to the wars that are fueling all this mess.another fine suggestion would be for all elected officials to do their part and forfeit all pay and retirements,all the Ceo''s who walked off with millions should immediately repay every cent or face prosecution. why shouldn''t those responsible pay the price , not us who have suffered for the mistakes of those in power.

[classmom2]

Dear President BUSH,

You also need to Investigate FINRA. Why should Americans lose all their Brokerage investments if they are Forced to go to Mediation or Arbitration.

When a Mediation or Arbitration takes place, we only get if there''s a settlement 10% of our losses.

That''s disgusting, when it''s the broker''s or brokerage firms fault we LOST our $$$ in the first place.

How about a Mediator who was an Attorney for the brokerage firm at a Mediation. Conflict of INTERST!....I lost all my $$$ because of the GREED and corruption of my CASE..

YOU NEED to TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY!

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sincerely,

Classmom2

[e-mail]