In Washington today lawmakers are scrambling to come up with a solution to the nation’s financial mess. Last night, President Bush gave a nationwide speech and confirmed what the experts and his advisors have been saying all week –the economy is in deep, deep trouble.
Right at the beginning, the president admitted “… we’re in the midst of a serious financial crisis.” He explained the problem with our major financial markets and then pointed to his administration’s $700 billion bailout as the solution. He issued a warning that “…not passing a bill now would cost Americans much more later.”
Also, Mr. Bush tried to reassure the nervous public that “…the plan is big enough to solve a serious problem.”
Today, Mr. Bush is holding a summit on the proposed bailout at the White House; lawmakers along with presidential candidates, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, will attend.
Meanwhile, there’s added tension between the two camps. It began yesterday when McCain apparently blindsided Obama by saying he was suspending his campaign to deal with the economic crisis and wanted Friday’s first debate delayed.
Obama agreed to the importances of taking quick action on the Wall Street meltdown, but he insisted that the debate should go forward as planned saying it was a good test because, “It’s going to be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once.”
