President Bush moves to calm markets
The White House moved aggressively this morning to calm jittery financial markets.
President Bush delivered a hastily scheduled pronouncement on the nation's economy on the Colonnade steps outside the Oval Office, telling reporters -- and more importantly, skittish investors, via live television coverage -- that he shared Americans' concern about the financial markets and the economy and that he would "closely monitor" the situation.
He said that the federal government had taken "extraordinary measures" in recent weeks to address the situation, moving to shore up the markets, individual companies and the economy.
The measures, some of which appear to be contrary to long-held wariness about government intervention, were "necessary and they're important, and the markets are adjusting to them," the president said, adding: "Our financial markets continue to deal with serious challenges."
He promised to take action to strengthen and stabilize the markets and to restore investor confidence.
An hour before he spoke -- and just before U.S. markets opened -- White House Press Secretary Dana Perino announced the president would speak out but would not be presenting new policy.
In a written statement, she said:
At 10:15 a.m. this morning, just outside of the Oval Office, the president will address the recent financial market developments and emphasize that he and his administration are continuing to work on efforts to promote stability in the markets. You should not expect any announcements of new policy in his remarks. The president is in regular and frequent contact with his senior economic advisers, and he will meet with Secretary Paulson later today."
Late Wednesday night, Perino's deputy, Tony Fratto, said Bush had decided to scrub his plan to travel to Alabama and Florida today and was instead sending Vice President Dick Cheney on a trip to visit a waste-to-energy plant and to raise money for Republican candidates.
For the White House transcript of the president's remarks, provided by Congressional Quarterly, click on Read Full Story...
-- James Gerstenzang
Photo: Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release September 18, 2008
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
ON THE ECONOMY
Oval Colonnade
10:15 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: The American people are concerned about the situation in our financial markets and our economy, and I share their concerns.
I've canceled my travel today to stay in Washington, where I will continue to closely monitor the situation in our financial markets and consult with my economic advisors. I spoke to Secretary Paulson this morning, and I will meet with him later on today.
In recent weeks, the federal government has taken extraordinary measures to address the challenges confronting our financial markets. We've taken control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- the home finance agencies -- to help promote market stability and to ensure they can continue to play a role in helping our housing market recover. This week, the Federal Reserve acted to prevent the disorderly failure of the insurance company AIG -- a development that could have caused a severe disruption in our financial markets and threatened other sectors of the economy. Yesterday, the Security and Exchange Commission took action to strengthen investor protections and step up its enforcement actions against illegal market manipulation. Last night, the Federal Reserve, in coordination with central banks around the world, took a substantial step to provide additional liquidity to the U.S. financial system.
These actions are necessary, and they're important. And the markets are adjusting to them. Our financial markets continue to deal with serious challenges. As our recent actions demonstrate, my administration is focused on meeting these challenges. The American people can be sure we will continue to act to strengthen and stabilize our financial markets and improve investor confidence.
Thank you.
END 10:17 A.M. EDT
