Forget the polls and economy, President Bush is doing...well!
If you were watching only the polls, Wall Street or Afghanistan over the last several months, you could be forgiven for thinking President Bush had been having a rough go of it, what with a job-approval rating rivaling that of Richard M. Nixon at his lowest, the tumbling Dow and the resurgent Taliban.
But you'd be wrong. It really hasn't been an entirely bad closing act for Bush. Indeed, he's on a roll. At least that's how the White House sees it.
Consider:
Last Monday, he suffered a legislative wipeout when the House rejected the $700-billion plan Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. hatched to deal with the credit crisis. By Friday, the president had signed an only slightly revised package into law. No other legislative issue carries greater importance for the president as his time in office wanes.
On Wednesday, he will sign a civilian nuclear agreement with India that won congressional approval last week. Apart from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it has been one of the most important -- and troublesome -- foreign policy issues on Bush's agenda for several years.
Remember the chant "drill, baby, drill" at the Republican National Convention last month? Congress heard it. After balking for years -- decades, really -- at relaxing rules against offshore exploration for oil and gas, it went along with the president's own initiative to ease government obstacles. The measure doesn't open up drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, to be sure, but it is nonetheless one of Bush's top energy priorities.
Not bad for a lame-duck president and one of the least popular at that.
But wait, there may be more.
Speaking with reporters after a closed-door forum with small-business people at the Olmos Pharmacy in San Antonio, the president said he was looking forward to moving back to Texas, "but in the meantime, it looks like I'm going to have a lot of work to do, between today and when the new president takes office."
As Dan Eggen, writing in the Washington Post, noted today, White House officials see such victories as underscoring "a year in which Bush has repeatedly pushed through major legislation on Capitol Hill regardless of troubles in the polls or the overwhelming focus on the presidential race."
For the White House transcript of the president's remarks to reporters this morning, click on "Read full story" ...
-- James Gerstenzang
Photo credit: Evan Vucci / Associated Press
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(San Antonio, Texas)
___________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release October 6, 2008
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO THE TRAVEL POOL
Olmos Pharmacy
San Antonio, Texas
10:44 A.M. CDT
THE PRESIDENT: We're glad to be here in San Antonio. I've just had a very illuminating conversation with small business owners here. We have a car dealer, a automobile repair shop, a restaurateurs -- two restaurateurs. And it's clear that these small business owners are dealing with the effects of a credit crunch. And by that I mean that they're having trouble getting money to be able to continue to either expand their business or to be able to -- money to help their consumers be able to buy their products. And it's -- and I told them one of the reasons why, you know, I was so strongly for this rescue package was inherent in the strategy of the rescue package is to free up credit, is to get money moving.
And it's going to take a while. I signed the bill on -- last week, but it's going to take a while to get in place a program that, one, is effective; two, that doesn't waste taxpayers' money -- we don't want to rush into this situation and not have the program be effective. It's going to take a while to restore confidence in the financial system. But one thing people can be certain of is that the bill I signed is a big step toward solving this problem.
A lot of people here in Texas and around the country are not pleased with the government having to take the steps they took. Their question is, I pay my bills, I pay my mortgage, why -- why are you helping Wall Street. And the answer is because had we not done anything, people like the folks behind me would be a lot worse off. We'll make sure, as time goes on, this doesn't happen again. In the meantime, we got to solve the problem. And that's why people sent me to Washington, D.C. When you see a problem, put a team together and solve it.
And I want to thank you all for your time. I'm glad to be back here in Texas. I miss my friends in Texas. I am -- you know, people say, are you looking forward to coming home. Yes, I'm looking forward to living here, but in the meantime, it looks like I'm going to have a lot of work to do between today and when the new President takes office. But Laura and I are glad to be with our friends and thank you for your time. Thank you all very much.
END 10:47 A.M. CDT
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