Bush: Economy's Under Control

More than 200 hand-picked people – Cabinet secretaries, CEO's, a waitress and a truck driver – came to central Texas on Tuesday for a campaign-style event to help President Bush show he's listening to people's concerns at a time when confidence in the economy and the markets is fragile.

"We have heard from Americans who are concerned, but not discouraged. We see problems, but we're confident in the long-term health of this economy," Mr. Bush said at the close of the economic forum he convened at Baylor University.

"This administration is determined to build on the long-term security of the American people," Mr. Bush pledged.

Democrats dismissed the forum as a public relations exercise, reports CBS News Correspondent Bill Plante.

"You had the sense that they were borrowing a page from the old campaign playbook: message - I care," said John Podesta, former Clinton chief of staff.

Mr. Bush also attacked Congress for trying to force him to spend money he doesn't want to spend: a $5 billion bill for homeland security and other projects that's written so the president must spend all of the money or none.

"I understand their position and today they're going to learn mine: We'll spend none of it," Mr. Bush said.

Democrats pounced, saying there were other ways the president could have saved money.

"He could have vetoed the farm bill. He could have considered rolling back some of these tax cuts that are going to get implemented next year," said Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J.

Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney made the rounds among eight seminars, combining policy and politics, which were led by various Cabinet secretaries and other top government officials. Mr. Bush said they were there to "to talk about ways to get the economy moving again." He dropped by four sessions for 15 minutes at a time.

"I can assure that even though I won't be sitting through every single moment of the seminars — nor will the vice president — we will look at the summaries," he told one working group.

Investment counselor Charles Schwab, whose company manages 8 million individual accounts with $800 billion in assets, reported to Mr. Bush that the confidence of American investors "is at a very fragile point."

While he said that the stock market's downturn will be only temporary, Schwab added: "The bear market that we're suffering right now is probably one of the worst I have ever gone through, and it's not a comfortable place to be."

Mr. Bush, speaking with a noticeably heavy Texas folksiness, replied that "what caught my attention was all this business about confidence."

"Even though times are kind of tough right now, we're America," he said. "I'm incredibly optimistic about the future of this country because I understand the strength of this country. ... We got a lot going for us."

A few blocks from the Baylor campus, which was closed to demonstrators, anti-abortion activists and protesters of China's religious persecution pressed their causes. A knot of about 50 people chanted, "Human need, not corporate greed," while two of them milled about wearing jailbird jumpsuits with their Bush and Cheney masks.

Stocks were marginally higher for much of the day but sank in the afternoon after the Federal Reserve announced it was leaving short-term interest rates unchanged.

In another panel discussion, Sheri Orlowitz, founder and CEO of Washington's Shan Industries, told Mr. Bush she spent a day polling her customers and bankers before traveling to Waco. "The same message came through: we're very fragile we expect a little more of a downside. But the government has taken action and the question now is focus and patience," she said.

Cheney, whose tenure as CEO at Halliburton is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, sat mostly in silence during his visits to sessions on trade, technology, small business and education. "I don't propose to make any remarks," he said at one point. "I came here to listen; the best policy this morning is to sit here and soak up your wisdom."

A welder, a truck driver and other wage earners were among those invited to the forum at Baylor University law school about a half-hour's drive from the president's ranch, where he is spending the month of August.

But the leading forum participants represented a short cross-section of the cream of America's corporate boardrooms, including the CEOs of International Paper, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the New York Stock Exchange, American Express, Home Depot, Caterpillar, Intel Corp., the National Association of Manufacturers, Folgers Coffee, eBay, Verizon Communications, National Semiconductor and Yahoo Inc.

College presidents, economists, labor officials, farmers, health and education professionals, and technology experts also were invited. The roster included more than 240 participants.

Administration officials hastened to rebut complaints that vocal critics of the administration's economic policies were excluded from the forum, as were members of Congress.

"The president believes that the best solutions are found outside Washington, and that's why he wants to hear directly from working Americans and small investors," deputy White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.

Many economists were skeptical the forum would do much to restore consumer confidence.

"I think it's pretty much a complete waste of time. I think the president's time would be better spent just being on vacation," said Bruce Bartlett, a conservative economic adviser to the first President Bush.