Bush to go on TV to push $700B financial bailout

25.09.2008 00:05 Shopping - Source: cbc.ca

U.S. President George W. Bush will go on television Wednesday night to talk to Americans about the crisis in the financial system as the administration's $700-billion US bailout plan continues to meet resistance from Congress.

The White House said Bush's prime-time speech at 9:01 p.m. ET will be between 12 and 14 minutes long, and will be delivered from the state floor of the White House.

Press secretary Dana Perino said the president wants to tell Americans how the crisis affects them and help them understand the depth of the problem.

Administration officials are waging a tough battle on Capitol Hill to try to persuade both Democratic and Republican legislators to approve the bailout plan and prevent financial market conditions from getting even worse.

Markets under 'extraordinary stress': Bernanke

U.S. Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke told Congress on Wednesday that global financial markets remain under "extraordinary stress." He said worsening conditions could further jeopardize an already troubled economy.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has proposed buying up to $700 billion in bad debt held by financial institutions due to the dramatic decline of the U.S. housing market.

Legislators have voiced skepticism about the plan, and some report getting hundreds of e-mails and phone calls from voters objecting to the use of public money to bail out huge financial institutions.

Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer says members are hearing "intense anger" from their constituents.

Some members are insisting that assistance for financially hard-pressed homeowners be included in the bailout package, while others want a cap on compensation paid to executives of the troubled financial institutions.

Republican officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Paulson has bowed to demands to limit the pay packages of executives whose companies benefit from the bailout.

A draft of a Democrat plan obtained by the Associated Press shows that Senate banking committee chair Chris Dodd also wants the government to get a stake in the companies helped by the unprecedented rescue.

It also would add layers of congressional oversight, including an emergency board to keep an eye on the program with two House and Senate appointees.

McCain doesn't think bailout plan will pass

Republican presidential candidate John McCain went on television to say he doesn't think Congress will pass the bailout package in its current form and call on members to set politics aside to find a solution.

"It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the administration's proposal," he said. "I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands and we are running out of time."

McCain said he was suspending his campaign to return to Washington and urged Bush to convene a leadership meeting from both houses of Congress, including himself and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

He is also asking for a postponement of Friday night's televised debate with Obama until action has been taken to resolve the crisis.

"I'm confident that before the markets open on Monday, we can achieve consensus on legislation that will stabilize our financial markets, protect taxpayers and homeowners and earn the confidence of the American people," McCain said.

Obama calls for swift action, no rewards for executives

Obama joined McCain in calling for a bipartisan approach to resolving the crisis.

"The clock is ticking," he said. "We have to act swiftly, but we have to also get it right.

"And that means everyone, Republicans and Democrats, the White House and Congress need to work together to come up with a solution that protects American taxpayers and our economy without rewarding those whose greed helped bring us to this point," he said.

Obama said that not a dime of the money should go to company CEOs who created the mess, adding that "we can't allow this plan to become a welfare program for Wall Street executives." An independent board should be set up to provide oversight and accountability for how and where the bailout money is spent, he said.

Taxpayers should be treated like investors, meaning they should get their money back once the economy recovers, the Illinois senator said. He also insisted that the bailout must be accompanied by a plan to help "the millions of innocent homeowners who are struggling to stay in their homes."

Obama rejected McCain's call for a postponement of Friday's presidential debate. He said that, faced with the current financial crisis, it's more important than ever for the debate to go ahead.

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