lily
03-19-2008, 04:08 AM
Totally out of touch with reality. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23695230/)
Bush remains upbeat on the economy
Delivers optimistic, but sometimes contradictory, message about future
updated 4:07 p.m. ET, Tues., March. 18, 2008
WASHINGTON - President Bush traveled a fair distance from Friday to Monday,
and not just to New York and back to the White House.
One day, he warned the economy could land "in a ditch" if the government
engaged in big bailout-type help for people losing their homes because they
gambled, unwisely or unknowingly, on the now-collapsed subprime mortgage
market.
On the other, he endorsed the Federal Reserve's move to provide $30 billion
in backing for the rescue of one of Wall Street's largest investment banks,
needed because Bear Stearns Cos. risked too much in that very sector.
Meanwhile, throughout the economy's recent turbulent times — lost jobs,
sky-high gasoline prices, plunging home values, a free-falling dollar,
shaken consumer confidence, a growth slowdown and possibly even a
recession — Bush has projected an air of unwavering optimism, even
joviality.
He is the nation's biggest economic cheerleader at a time of deep
uncertainty.
"The United States is on top of the situation," he declared Monday.
It all has some people shaking their heads. Is there a disconnect here? Does
the president get how this might feel to the little guy? Is there a
different standard for the big financial community and the strapped
homeowner facing foreclosure?
This sort of question dominated presidential spokeswoman Dana Perino's
briefings Monday.
Absolutely, the president gets it, she said.
Perino listed steps the administration has been taking to provide relief for
homeowners in trouble, such as brokering deals with the mortgage industry
for a five-year rate freeze and a 30-day foreclosure pause. She said "help
is on the way" in the form of tax rebate checks in May that are part of a
$168 billion stimulus package.
She also insisted that the Fed's decision, backed by Bush, to support the
purchase of troubled Bear Stearns is a different matter. Bush has rejected
bailouts because he says they encourage more people to make poor decisions.
But Perino said the broader financial market could follow a company such as
Bear Stearns into ruin, causing a ripple effect that demanded bold
preventive action.
"A major market disruption would have very damaging consequences and be very
painful for everybody, from the small-business owner to the homeowner,"
Perino said.
In any case, the Fed action on Bear Stearns' behalf doesn't amount to a
bailout, she said, because the company's shareholders "are taking large and
significant losses in this transaction."
Policy arguments aside, when it comes to presidents and crises, particularly
economic ones, perceptions are key.
Bush remains upbeat on the economy
Delivers optimistic, but sometimes contradictory, message about future
updated 4:07 p.m. ET, Tues., March. 18, 2008
WASHINGTON - President Bush traveled a fair distance from Friday to Monday,
and not just to New York and back to the White House.
One day, he warned the economy could land "in a ditch" if the government
engaged in big bailout-type help for people losing their homes because they
gambled, unwisely or unknowingly, on the now-collapsed subprime mortgage
market.
On the other, he endorsed the Federal Reserve's move to provide $30 billion
in backing for the rescue of one of Wall Street's largest investment banks,
needed because Bear Stearns Cos. risked too much in that very sector.
Meanwhile, throughout the economy's recent turbulent times — lost jobs,
sky-high gasoline prices, plunging home values, a free-falling dollar,
shaken consumer confidence, a growth slowdown and possibly even a
recession — Bush has projected an air of unwavering optimism, even
joviality.
He is the nation's biggest economic cheerleader at a time of deep
uncertainty.
"The United States is on top of the situation," he declared Monday.
It all has some people shaking their heads. Is there a disconnect here? Does
the president get how this might feel to the little guy? Is there a
different standard for the big financial community and the strapped
homeowner facing foreclosure?
This sort of question dominated presidential spokeswoman Dana Perino's
briefings Monday.
Absolutely, the president gets it, she said.
Perino listed steps the administration has been taking to provide relief for
homeowners in trouble, such as brokering deals with the mortgage industry
for a five-year rate freeze and a 30-day foreclosure pause. She said "help
is on the way" in the form of tax rebate checks in May that are part of a
$168 billion stimulus package.
She also insisted that the Fed's decision, backed by Bush, to support the
purchase of troubled Bear Stearns is a different matter. Bush has rejected
bailouts because he says they encourage more people to make poor decisions.
But Perino said the broader financial market could follow a company such as
Bear Stearns into ruin, causing a ripple effect that demanded bold
preventive action.
"A major market disruption would have very damaging consequences and be very
painful for everybody, from the small-business owner to the homeowner,"
Perino said.
In any case, the Fed action on Bear Stearns' behalf doesn't amount to a
bailout, she said, because the company's shareholders "are taking large and
significant losses in this transaction."
Policy arguments aside, when it comes to presidents and crises, particularly
economic ones, perceptions are key.