Bush Alert: President in Town to Talk Economy

Photograph of Bush speaking to the Economic Club of New York by Mary Altaffer/AP
Update: President Bush gave his speech at the Ecomonic Club - here's his opening:

First of all, in a free market, there's going to be good times and bad times. That's how markets work. There will be ups and downs. And after 52 consecutive months of job growth, which is a record, our economy obviously is going through a tough time. It's going through a tough time in the housing market, and it's going through a tough time in the financial markets.

And I want to spend a little time talking about that, but I want to remind you, this is not the first time since I've been the President that we have faced economic challenges. We inherited a recession. And then there was the attacks of September the 11th, 2001, which many of you saw firsthand, and you know full well how that affected our economy. And then we had corporate scandals. And I made the difficult decisions to confront the terrorists and extremists in two major fronts, Afghanistan and Iraq. And then we had devastating natural disasters. And the interesting thing, every time, this economy has bounced back better and stronger than before.

So I'm coming to you as an optimistic fellow. I've seen what happens when America deals with difficulty. I believe that we're a resilient economy, and I believe that the ingenuity and resolve of the American people is what helps us deal with these issues. And it's going to happen again.

You can read the rest here; he also said, "Today's events are fast moving, but the chairman of the Federal Reserve and the secretary of the Treasury are on top of them and will take the appropriate steps to promote stability in our markets."

Previously:
President Bush is headed to NYC today for a speech at the Economic Club of New York. The President will be urging Americans to have confidence in the economy; per WCBS 2, "The president is expected to say that the benefits of the tax relief and economic stimulus package should be felt soon, and the Federal Reserve is taking steps to encourage economic growth."

In other words, forget about oil prices, forget out the subprime mortgage crisis, forget about the other countries' economic growth, don't worry - be happy. Over on the legislative branch has other ideas: Representative Barney Frank and Senator Christopher Dodd did offer a plan yesterday "to let the Federal Housing Administration insure refinanced mortgages after lenders reduce principal to help struggling borrowers." And private analysts are worrying. Though the White House says not to expect any major announcement, what's interesting is that Bush decided to come now, accepting the Economic Club's "open invitation."

This also means that there will be a traffic mess in different parts of the city, including Midtown and the Upper West Side: The City says, "Due to the President's visit, drivers should expect closures in different areas of Manhattan related to security and increased motorcade traffic."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on March 14, 2008 2:30 PM

Comments [rss]

passerby

Chiming in late as ever: yeah, I actually work to keep the roof over my head, put food on the table (not mac-n-cheese!), pay the bills, and save just a l'il.

First reaction of many is to blame the BOOB in the Oval Office. And while I agree with the comments by EastRiver & eyekantspel, the Texan and a spineless Congress have done nothing to "Ease his pain."

They have not an ounce of Foreign policy unless it's posing with foreign ministers. And what Domestic policy? His Economic Stimulus Package is not going to help put money back into the economy! Funding an INVASION that is costing BILLIONS has driven this country so far into debt, what's another $16,500,000,000! Not to mention the costs involved informing America TWICE that the $$ is coming!! Here ya go, kids: hope you're still not digging outta this one in 2100!

Coupled with the domino-effect of years of misinformation & poor choices & greed has driven the economy into a recession. I don't claim to have a solution but the US needs a domino-effect infusion of technological advances in several industries to create good jobs and regain a balanced economy.

And don't rely solely on American business to lead the way in this initiative: it will be/is our friends from abroad who will take up arms to help a struggling, world power to regain its composure.

Karen

shrub is coming to town? How many of you are going to find an excuse to get out of town that day?

EastRiver

Bush is no help, that's for certain, but a whole lot of people helped paint us into this corner.

And lots of those people have their money in Euros and gold and own real estate in the Andes where you can't find them. Don't laugh. I know a guy with a ranch in Chile that's only accessible by tiny prop plane.

eyekantspel and I are teaming up again. I hope Elderta isn't mad.

eyekantspel

On top of our current problems, another issue that's being ignored by everyone is Medicare.

There's a decent article about it in Fortune:

http://tinyurl.com/3cakhp

eyekantspel

oh and just to be clear, I think Bush is an idiot.

eyekantspel

well, I find myself agreeing with EastRiver again. The state of the economy can not be attributed to Bush. It takes a village to fuck up our economy, and we had Congress and the Senate rowing, with Greenspan steering the boat.

Post tech-bubble and 9/11, the answer was to jump start the economy with crazy low interest rates, which led to speculative housing market and a free-for-all credit-based shopping spree, and now we're in a Catch 22.

If we raise rates and tighten the money supply, the economy will slow to a crawl, mortgage defaults will jump, housing will crash, we'll end up in a deep recession and the world will end.

If we keep rates low and print money like we've been doing to increase liquidity, we lower the value/purchasing power of the dollar, inflation skyrockets, we end up with stagflation and the world will end.

Bush is no help, that's for certain, but a whole lot of people helped paint us into this corner.

JRod5417

I think W is hugely misunderestimated.

zodak

"We inherited a recession. "

LMFAO!!!!! Yeah... a healthy economy and that huge budget surplus that that #*!%@& Clinton left us really was terrible, huh?
yeah, i was wondering about that little lie.

What is unbelievable isn't that this sorry sack of s__t does nothing but lie to us, but that there are actually people dumb enough to believe him. The Economic Club of New York? They should at least have laughed him off the stage.
really! i can not understand how people can still support this guy or waste time with him. is everyone in that "club" a friend of his who benefitted financially from this guy's destroying america?

navinjohnson

is this douchebag still president?

EastRiver

LMFAO!!!!! Yeah... a healthy economy and that huge budget surplus that that #*!%@& Clinton left us really was terrible, huh?

This is not an endorsement of Bush but you are a retard. I assume you are talking about 2001? You really think that Bush was able to star a recession weeks into his term? I think you vastly overestimate the power of the Presidency, even Bill Clinton's. Presidents and Congress can only mildly impact economies at best. If you go back over the last 100 years the average time between recessions is five years. Recessions are inevitable. To think that they won't happen due to who is in office is laughable. Clinton just got his timing lucky. He came in after the recession of 1991-2 was over and he got a gift from the Fed of rate cuts during the Asian Currency mess of 1998. The healthy economy turned into a bubble and Bubba rode off into the sunset as it popped. If you really want to blame someone call Alan Greenspan. We're ultimately paying for his ridiculously low interest rates in the first half of the decade. Had we sucked it up and had a deeper recession post interet bubble we might have avoided the the housing bubble.

And let me reiterate, I am not endorsing Bush or his policies.

petebfd

we did inherit a recession... from bush's first term.

but really, if those damn democrats in washington weren't so partisan than they wouldn't be destroying the economy. they should just do what bush wants or the economy will fall and terrorists will eat your children. don't you see? god, why are liberal people so stupid!

Guest

That should have read...

Oh yeah, those people caught in those 'scandals'are your friends.

Guest

I like how he just threw in the part about corporate scandals really quickly and then moved on. Didn't want to elborate on that topic, W? I wonder why. Oh yeah, those people caught in those 'scandals' friends. The fact that they are called scandals and not grand theft is so sad it's laughable.

Sommelier

"We inherited a recession. "

LMFAO!!!!! Yeah... a healthy economy and that huge budget surplus that that #*!%@& Clinton left us really was terrible, huh?

What is unbelievable isn't that this sorry sack of s__t does nothing but lie to us, but that there are actually people dumb enough to believe him. The Economic Club of New York? They should at least have laughed him off the stage.

matty

Yeah but the banks made the loans at their own discretion. It's THEIR FAULT (and unscrupulous homeowners) not Bush's for not regulating them.

sinisterteashop

don't blame Bush this is the fault of fucked up New York banks that are now begging for welfare from the fed - and getting it! - because of these crap loans they issued

The banks are regulated by the Federal government. Read Spitzer's suicide letter to the Washington Post that lays out in detail the Bush administration's blocking of any state government who attempted to regulate the mortgage and loan giveaway orgy.

Goomba

He wacked the economy cause he don't know from them middle east jibones.

Tim N.

I agree, Matty. But you gotta admit, the last thing the ailing economy needs is this chronic liar running around saying everything's great and will get better. It's almost a flag that things are gonna get worse.

I'd rather he say, "things suck." Then they might actually pick up, since most of the country has pretty much concluded that he is always wrong.

babyhitler

man, I thought george bush was losing his touch in 2006 when the economy and housing and jobs was on the upswing but now that everything is shit again, he's been the worst president ever we know and despise. Here's hoping the apocalypse comes on his watch.

mattcarman

53rd and 54th streets are closed to traffic between Broadway and 6th Avenue. The south sidewalk of 54th and the north sidewalk of 53rd (the block around the Hilton) are closed to pedestrians, but they're letting through people who work in those buildings. Broadway and 6th Ave. are open.