Bush from the Rose Garden: “It’s the Right Plan”

In on-going efforts to reassure the American people that a better economy is indeed on the horizon — although it may take time — President George W. Bush made a brief statement from the White House Rose Garden Friday. Bush spoke as leaders of the world’s top economies gathered in Washington amid frozen credit markets and an impending global recession. By coming together, Bush said, the world is “sending an unmistakable signal that we’re in this together and we’ll come through this together.” Bush said the fundamental problem is a frozen system of credit that stemmed from the housing calamity, “which is keeping American businesses from financing their daily transactions — and creating uncertainty throughout our economy.” But he fervently verbalized his confidence in the steps being taken to resolve the spiraling economic crisis. “The plan we’re executing is aggressive,” Bush said.  “It’s the right plan…it is big enough to work.” Bush spoke in detail of initiatives like Hope Now and FHASecure that his administration has launched to help struggling homeowners stay in their homes; and boldly stated that if Americans are “struggling to meet their mortgage, there are always ways to get help.” With the wide-range of tools recently granted to the government via the bailout bill, Bush believes the economy can recover.  “$700 billion is a significant amount of money,” he said.  We know the problems…and “we have the tools to fix it.” He suggested for the first time that the rescue package will allow the Fed to purchase equity and bad assets from banks in order to help them re-build capital. He praised his “outstanding economic team” and said “we” all have the determination to solve the problem, and that’s exactly what will be done. “This is an anxious time, but the American people can be confident in our economic future,” Bush said. As the briefing occurred, the Dow continued to prove volatile during a day of steep swings. With reports from Kelly Curran and Diana Golobay. Disclosure: The authors held no relevant positions when this story was published. Indirect holdings may exist via mutual fund investments. HW reporters and writers follow a strict disclosure policy, the first in the mortgage trade. Editor’s note: To contact the reporter on this story, email [email protected].