C
ChasNemo
Guest
On Jan 8, 11:24�am, SrRojo <drj2...@concentric.net> wrote:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/business/08bush.html?hp
>
> The New York Times
>
> January 8, 2008
>
> Bush Admits Economy Faces Challenges
>
> "No he dint!"--L'il Jak
>
> By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
>
> CHICAGO -- President Bush, in a marked shift from his usual upbeat
> economic assessments, conceded here on Monday that the nation faces
> "economic challenges" due to rising oil prices, the home mortgage
> crisis and a weakening job market.
>
> "We cannot take growth for granted," Mr. Bush said in a speech to a
> group of business leaders in which he acknowledged that "recent
> economic indicators have become increasingly mixed."
>
> But even after a government report on Friday that showed unemployment
> jumped to 5 percent last month from 4.7 percent in November, Mr. Bush
> stopped short of warning that the nation may be about to enter a
> recession.
>
> Democrats in Congress and on the campaign trail echoed the president's
> sobering view. With a number of analysts now predicting that an
> economic downturn could be imminent, both Mr. Bush and Congressional
> Democratic leaders say they are considering whether a rescue package
> is necessary to counter the threat of a recession, in which economic
> activity declines and joblessness increases over an extended period of
> time.
>
> But the two sides would undoubtedly take vastly different approaches,
> setting up a clash that could dominate the 2008 election campaign and
> the remainder of the Bush presidency.
>
> If the past is any guide, Mr. Bush is likely to favor broad-based tax
> cuts of the sort he pushed through early in his presidency. Democrats
> are discussing more targeted relief -- tax cuts, spending programs or a
> combination of the two -- to help lower- and middle-income Americans
> who would be hurt the most if the economy falters.
>
> "This is going to be a battle over doing more of what George Bush has
> done for the past six years, or doing more for the middle class,"
> Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the chairman of the House
> Democratic Caucus, said in a telephone interview after spending the
> day in Chicago with Mr. Bush. "That's where the fissure is going to
> be."
>
> The clash comes as the latest negative signs on the economy, coupled
> with uncertainty in the housing and credit markets, have forced Mr.
> Bush to abandon his usual sunny rhetoric and paint a darker picture of
> the economy's condition.
>
> After months of insisting that the economy's fundamentals are strong --
> a theme he reiterated on Monday -- Mr. Bush did not mince words. He
> acknowledged that "many Americans are anxious about the economy," and
> he noted that "jobs are growing at a slower pace." He said core
> inflation was low -- "except when you're going to the gas pump, it
> doesn't seem that low."
>
> Still, the White House is not convinced it must act. The deliberations
> are tightly held, and aides to Mr. Bush say he will not make a
> decision about whether to offer a stimulus package, or what it should
> contain, until later this month, in time for his State of the Union
> address scheduled for Jan. 28. Appearing in New York on Monday, Mr.
> Bush's Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., echoed that approach,
> and cautioned against any rush to action.
>
> "Working through the current situation and getting the policy right,"
> Mr. Paulson said, "is more important than getting the policy announced
> quickly."
>
> On Capitol Hill, Democrats were positioning themselves to get ahead of
> any proposal the White House might present. Aides to Nancy Pelosi, the
> House speaker, said that she had yet to conclude decisively that a
> stimulus package was needed, but that she had met with a group of
> economic advisers last month who urged her to take swift action aimed
> at stabilizing the jittery economy and lifting consumer confidence.
>
> The group included Lawrence H. Summers, a Treasury secretary under
> President Bill Clinton; Felix G. Rohatyn, the financier and former
> ambassador to France; and Laurence D. Fink, the chairman and chief
> executive of BlackRock, the global investment firm.
>
> An aide to Ms. Pelosi said the three were "unanimous in saying that we
> should move out ahead." In an interview over the weekend, Mr. Summers
> said he believed that there was now a greater than 50 percent chance
> of a recession this year.
>
> "My view is that now is the time to be thinking about policies that
> would provide recession insurance," Mr. Summers said, "and if we wait
> until it's entirely clear that there is a recession, it will be too
> late."
>
> But Democratic leaders said there was already a general consensus
> within the party that any stimulus package would be temporary and
> targeted to the middle class and the poor. Among the proposals under
> consideration are a $500 across-the-board rebate, possibly to be
> returned to taxpayers in their paychecks through the payroll tax
> system, as well as a plan to restore the $1,000 per child tax credit
> to many low-income families that currently do not qualify for it.
>
> Polls show Americans are now more concerned with the economy than the
> war in Iraq, a trend that is reflected in the presidential campaigns.
> In New Hampshire on Monday, as the candidates furiously courted voters
> on the eve of that state's crucial primary vote, pocketbook issues
> like the price of home heating oil and health care took center stage.
>
> "The economy's beginning to have some problems, which I'm worried
> about," Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York told a group of
> voters on Monday morning in Portsmouth, N.H. "We've got this energy
> crisis, with oil now at $100 a barrel," she said, citing consequences
> "for our economy, for our security, for the problem of global
> warming."
>
> On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor,
> sounded similar themes, recalling his humble roots as he tried to
> persuade voters that he understood their "struggle." Gas prices, home
> heating costs and health care bills keep going up, Mr. Huckabee said,
> "but your paycheck doesn't go up to cover it."
>
> As for the Bush administration, Mr. Paulson, the Treasury secretary,
> tried to offer assurances that the White House is not standing still.
> He said the administration may seek to expand a program begun last
> year to help homeowners who cannot afford to repay subprime mortgages
> once they are adjusted upward.
>
> Mr. Bush had expected to spend his final year in office focused on
> foreign affairs -- he leaves Tuesday for the Middle East -- and a few
> domestic issues, like reauthorizing his signature education bill, No
> Child Left Behind.
>
> But the president has had trouble getting credit for the economy even
> when times were good, and he can ill afford to leave office on an
> economic sour note. Mr. Bush is well aware that if he does not appear
> to share the public's concern, he -- and, more important for the 2008
> elections, his party -- could easily look out of touch.
>
> "I think Bush is looking not to give the Democratic candidate any more
> ammunition than necessary," said Bruce Bartlett, a Republican
> economist who has been highly critical of the administration. "If we
> are in the middle of a recession in November, obviously the Republican
> Party is going to be blamed for that."
>
> Still, Mr. Bush must be careful not to depress the economy with
> pessimistic talk, and so his speech in Chicago on Monday offered a
> delicate balancing act. "People said, 'Are you optimistic?' I said,
> 'Absolutely, absolutely optimistic,'" Mr. Bush said. "Do I recognize
> the reality of the situation? You bet I do."
>
> Steven R. Weisman contributed reporting from Washington.
The DJIA dropped 238 points today -- 195 of it within a half hour
after Bu$h went on TV at 2 PM.
> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/business/08bush.html?hp
>
> The New York Times
>
> January 8, 2008
>
> Bush Admits Economy Faces Challenges
>
> "No he dint!"--L'il Jak
>
> By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
>
> CHICAGO -- President Bush, in a marked shift from his usual upbeat
> economic assessments, conceded here on Monday that the nation faces
> "economic challenges" due to rising oil prices, the home mortgage
> crisis and a weakening job market.
>
> "We cannot take growth for granted," Mr. Bush said in a speech to a
> group of business leaders in which he acknowledged that "recent
> economic indicators have become increasingly mixed."
>
> But even after a government report on Friday that showed unemployment
> jumped to 5 percent last month from 4.7 percent in November, Mr. Bush
> stopped short of warning that the nation may be about to enter a
> recession.
>
> Democrats in Congress and on the campaign trail echoed the president's
> sobering view. With a number of analysts now predicting that an
> economic downturn could be imminent, both Mr. Bush and Congressional
> Democratic leaders say they are considering whether a rescue package
> is necessary to counter the threat of a recession, in which economic
> activity declines and joblessness increases over an extended period of
> time.
>
> But the two sides would undoubtedly take vastly different approaches,
> setting up a clash that could dominate the 2008 election campaign and
> the remainder of the Bush presidency.
>
> If the past is any guide, Mr. Bush is likely to favor broad-based tax
> cuts of the sort he pushed through early in his presidency. Democrats
> are discussing more targeted relief -- tax cuts, spending programs or a
> combination of the two -- to help lower- and middle-income Americans
> who would be hurt the most if the economy falters.
>
> "This is going to be a battle over doing more of what George Bush has
> done for the past six years, or doing more for the middle class,"
> Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the chairman of the House
> Democratic Caucus, said in a telephone interview after spending the
> day in Chicago with Mr. Bush. "That's where the fissure is going to
> be."
>
> The clash comes as the latest negative signs on the economy, coupled
> with uncertainty in the housing and credit markets, have forced Mr.
> Bush to abandon his usual sunny rhetoric and paint a darker picture of
> the economy's condition.
>
> After months of insisting that the economy's fundamentals are strong --
> a theme he reiterated on Monday -- Mr. Bush did not mince words. He
> acknowledged that "many Americans are anxious about the economy," and
> he noted that "jobs are growing at a slower pace." He said core
> inflation was low -- "except when you're going to the gas pump, it
> doesn't seem that low."
>
> Still, the White House is not convinced it must act. The deliberations
> are tightly held, and aides to Mr. Bush say he will not make a
> decision about whether to offer a stimulus package, or what it should
> contain, until later this month, in time for his State of the Union
> address scheduled for Jan. 28. Appearing in New York on Monday, Mr.
> Bush's Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., echoed that approach,
> and cautioned against any rush to action.
>
> "Working through the current situation and getting the policy right,"
> Mr. Paulson said, "is more important than getting the policy announced
> quickly."
>
> On Capitol Hill, Democrats were positioning themselves to get ahead of
> any proposal the White House might present. Aides to Nancy Pelosi, the
> House speaker, said that she had yet to conclude decisively that a
> stimulus package was needed, but that she had met with a group of
> economic advisers last month who urged her to take swift action aimed
> at stabilizing the jittery economy and lifting consumer confidence.
>
> The group included Lawrence H. Summers, a Treasury secretary under
> President Bill Clinton; Felix G. Rohatyn, the financier and former
> ambassador to France; and Laurence D. Fink, the chairman and chief
> executive of BlackRock, the global investment firm.
>
> An aide to Ms. Pelosi said the three were "unanimous in saying that we
> should move out ahead." In an interview over the weekend, Mr. Summers
> said he believed that there was now a greater than 50 percent chance
> of a recession this year.
>
> "My view is that now is the time to be thinking about policies that
> would provide recession insurance," Mr. Summers said, "and if we wait
> until it's entirely clear that there is a recession, it will be too
> late."
>
> But Democratic leaders said there was already a general consensus
> within the party that any stimulus package would be temporary and
> targeted to the middle class and the poor. Among the proposals under
> consideration are a $500 across-the-board rebate, possibly to be
> returned to taxpayers in their paychecks through the payroll tax
> system, as well as a plan to restore the $1,000 per child tax credit
> to many low-income families that currently do not qualify for it.
>
> Polls show Americans are now more concerned with the economy than the
> war in Iraq, a trend that is reflected in the presidential campaigns.
> In New Hampshire on Monday, as the candidates furiously courted voters
> on the eve of that state's crucial primary vote, pocketbook issues
> like the price of home heating oil and health care took center stage.
>
> "The economy's beginning to have some problems, which I'm worried
> about," Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York told a group of
> voters on Monday morning in Portsmouth, N.H. "We've got this energy
> crisis, with oil now at $100 a barrel," she said, citing consequences
> "for our economy, for our security, for the problem of global
> warming."
>
> On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor,
> sounded similar themes, recalling his humble roots as he tried to
> persuade voters that he understood their "struggle." Gas prices, home
> heating costs and health care bills keep going up, Mr. Huckabee said,
> "but your paycheck doesn't go up to cover it."
>
> As for the Bush administration, Mr. Paulson, the Treasury secretary,
> tried to offer assurances that the White House is not standing still.
> He said the administration may seek to expand a program begun last
> year to help homeowners who cannot afford to repay subprime mortgages
> once they are adjusted upward.
>
> Mr. Bush had expected to spend his final year in office focused on
> foreign affairs -- he leaves Tuesday for the Middle East -- and a few
> domestic issues, like reauthorizing his signature education bill, No
> Child Left Behind.
>
> But the president has had trouble getting credit for the economy even
> when times were good, and he can ill afford to leave office on an
> economic sour note. Mr. Bush is well aware that if he does not appear
> to share the public's concern, he -- and, more important for the 2008
> elections, his party -- could easily look out of touch.
>
> "I think Bush is looking not to give the Democratic candidate any more
> ammunition than necessary," said Bruce Bartlett, a Republican
> economist who has been highly critical of the administration. "If we
> are in the middle of a recession in November, obviously the Republican
> Party is going to be blamed for that."
>
> Still, Mr. Bush must be careful not to depress the economy with
> pessimistic talk, and so his speech in Chicago on Monday offered a
> delicate balancing act. "People said, 'Are you optimistic?' I said,
> 'Absolutely, absolutely optimistic,'" Mr. Bush said. "Do I recognize
> the reality of the situation? You bet I do."
>
> Steven R. Weisman contributed reporting from Washington.
The DJIA dropped 238 points today -- 195 of it within a half hour
after Bu$h went on TV at 2 PM.
