Bush sees more moves like Citigroup bailout

[liberal N proud]

Also says bank rescue necessary to ‘safeguard the financial system’

BREAKING NEWS

updated 1 hour, 47 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - President Bush argued Monday that the government’s dramatic rescue of Citigroup was necessary to “safeguard the financial system” and help the economy recover, and he said there could be more such moves if other institutions need help.

Bush said he approved the action, recommended by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, while flying back to Washington on Sunday evening from meetings in Peru with Pacific Rim leaders. He said he also spoke with President-elect Barack Obama on Monday morning, part of what he has promised will be “close cooperation” between his administration and the Obama camp until the transfer of power on Jan. 20.

Referring to the Citigroup rescue, Bush said: “We have made these kind of decisions in the past. We made one last night. And if need be we will make these kind of decisions to safeguard our financial system in the future.”

Briefing reporters later, White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto would not identify any other firms or institutions that the government could help next. “We would never foreshadow any specific actions involving private firms, but I think it’s safe to say ... that we take threats to our financial system seriously and we stand ready to take any steps necessary to prevent systemic events in our economy,” Fratto said.

Bush, who spoke after meeting with Paulson and other Cabinet members at the Treasury Department, said they all realize that Americans are concerned for their jobs and savings.

“We will safeguard the financial system as the first step necessary for economic recovery,” the president said. “This is a tough situation. But we will recover from it.”

Also while at Treasury, just across a sidewalk from the White House, Bush joined a meeting of top administration officials who are working on greater economic cooperation with China. Bush met on Friday in Peru with Chinese President Hu Jintao for talks focused in part on the global economic turmoil.

The flurry of activity by Bush, which had not been announced in advance, came the morning after the government’s agreement to shoulder hundreds of billions of dollars in possible losses at Citigroup and to plow a fresh $20 billion into the troubled company.

The president has repeatedly sought to defend his administration’s unprecedented intervention in the financial markets in recent months, arguing against criticism from some fiscal conservatives by saying that the moves go against his free-market instincts but are necessary because of the dire times. He also has said that he was warned that the economy could fall into a slowdown worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s if the government did not act.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27889836/

They are going to give all away as fast as they can to insure thei cronies get theirs before 1/20/09

:grr:

[kentuck]

1. You can bet on it.

He and Paulson will find a way to spend that $360 billion that Barack Obama thinks will be left over for him to work with...

[marmar]

2. He's paid off the Saudi royals who own so much of Citigroup.....how many more of his friends....

.... have to be paid off before he leaves office?

[MadHound]

3. Wrecking the economy as fast as he can

This is insane, bailing out all these corporations, just throwing money at them with no strings attached, no conditions. It's going to wreck our government and wreck our economy, but I think that's what Bush wants. He's acting like a petulant little child.