Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Bush's statement

Setting aside my deep antipathy for the President, I actually think he did a pretty good job in his address to the nation tonight.  He clearly explained the origins of the crisis in a non-partisan way.  He made it clear that he understood the problems that Americans have with the bailout- using our taxes to help out rich guys on Wall Street, noted that he didn't like it either, but explained the importance of the bailout to the overall economy.  He also reminded people that their savings accounts and CDs are all protected, so there's no need for folks to yank their savings out and put it under the mattress.

I'm not sure that, once the teleprompter was turned off, he would have been able to say anything about the words he'd just read, but I think it will be pretty effective getting voter support behind the compromise plan working its way through, and also preventing any kind of run on banks.

1 comment:

jor17 said...

Responding to your post below:
I agree with the 36 percent that think think the debate should continue but have at least some focus on the economy. Jim Lehrer should start by asking McCain:

Senator McCain, you have not voted on anything in Congress for over six months, you have missed over 60% of the votes in this Congress (more than anyone else), you are not a member of the Committee on Banking, and as of last week you said the economy was fundamentally strong. Before President Bush called for this “summit” with other members of Congress, including Senator Obama and yourself, what specifically did you plan going to accomplish in Washington that you found it necessary to call off your campaign and the debates?