I just watched Bush, looking grim, address the nation regarding the growing financial crisis. One that happened on his watch by the way. He didn't really say how he'd fix it either...just that he and his advisers were on it!

Then I saw this on yahoo news and thought I would post it.

“I will continue to closely monitor the situation in our financial markets and consult with my economic advisers,” President Bush said Thursday in a two-minute address from the Rose Garden.

That’s right, two minutes. Delivered, according to the official White House transcript, from 10:15 a.m. EDT to 10:17 a.m. EDT. Maybe you missed it. Maybe you were at work. Maybe the president doesn’t care.

Maybe that’s the problem.

George W. Bush will continue to draw a paycheck until noon on Jan. 20, 2009. (If there is still any money left in the U.S. Treasury to pay him, that is.) But what has he been doing to earn his pay lately? Not calming fears among his fellow citizens about their life savings, that’s for sure.

On Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 504 points, its worst drop since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. But Bush did not address the nation that night.

Instead, he held a state dinner for the president of Ghana. Gratin of Maine lobster, late-summer corn pudding, ginger-scented farm lamb and graham cracker crumble with cocoa pod shell was served. Eleven members of the cast of “The Lion King” came down from Broadway and performed. It was quite a bash. The Washington Post described President Bush and Ghanaian President John Kufuor as “ebullient.”

I have nothing against Ghana. I have been to Ghana. I really liked the people there. And considering President Kufuor had Bush over for dinner in February when Bush was in Ghana, Bush was only being polite. (To honor Bush in February, Kufuor renamed a local highway the “George Bush Motorway.” Bush did not return the favor this week, perhaps because he intends to sell the naming rights to our federal highways for quick cash.)

The toast President Bush gave to President Kufuor Monday was 383 words long. Bush’s Rose Garden address to the nation Thursday on the financial crisis was 263 words long.

Could this be a case of misplaced priorities? Do you think?

So, when the dust settles who will pay? You and I. Will the speculators and the CEO's who recklessly ran businesses into the ground be keeping the profits, their property and those fat pay-offs and bonuses. Why yes they will. Meanwhile you and I will assume the debts.

Yeah he caused it.

At any point in my post did I say he caused it?

I said it happened on his watch...the administration, those that supported deregulation and hands off the markets policies, the speculators allowed to run unexamined...they all share blame

Now, if you cannot appreciate the complexities of the situation I am sorry but please don't put words in my mouth.

So he took two small minutes out.

I would much rather he be working than spending time addressing people that have and still continue to grasp nothing of the true reality of this situation.

Keep running around in circles as the news media pulls you by the nose, feeds you facts in just the right doses to keep you misinformed and watching (for ratings).

History (if you are lucky enough to be around when it all comes out) will show this to be an far different time than you believe it to be.

free market


why do you think the gov't should fix it?

I certianly do not believe the government should fix it.

We should let it tear itself and its false foundation apart.

But hey...

Ain't people of all parties got their hands in that cookie jar?

As long as WE let them sit in the seats they hold they will continue to live from our pockets.

I say he caused it. I didn't say you said he caused it. I said it I don't recall saying you said it. I did not put the words in your mouth, when they are from mine so stop jumping to conclusions.

Sure... Let's have the government bail us out again. It's certainly worked well for us the last three times... oh wait...

We are going to have to get ourselve's out of this one and our children, and our childrens children, till the deficit is payed off.

The deficit is a myth used to garner votes. Our foreign debt is a real concern though.

The "deficit" could be wiped with the stroke of a pen. They won't do that though because then they'd lose a tool for scoring political points during elections.

It's going to take years and years to fix up this mess.

this is true, the US owes a lot of money to a lot of countries better hope your lenders are patient and dont cash in those bonds...

Who cares...I hope the world markets all crash. then we can get back to real values instead of speculations, futures & inflationary costs.

I say that should rush in all debt forgiveness. Let every country go back to owning it's own.

If they really wanted to get us out of debt they would drill & at the same time industrialize alternative resources...that would put people back to work & get the mortgages paid. The best part is getting us off foreign sources of oil.

What's really scary is the unanimous and bi-partisan agreement on the current mega-bailout plan. Not a dissenting voice among Democrats or Republicans. It shows how dire this situation is.

One thing I also don't hear is who will be held responsible for all this? There are people in prison for smoking pot in this country, but the people who pushed our financial system to the brink of total collapse are home in their mansions laughing about how we suckers have bailed them out.