US News
Bush seeks to assure world on US economy
Sep 23, 2008, 20:46 GMT
US President George W. Bush arrives at the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations Headquarters in New York USA, 23 September 2008. EPA/PETER FOLEY
New York - President George W Bush sought to allay worries about the US economy during a speech at the United Nations on Tuesday, while reminding the body of its obligations to confront terrorism and promote democracy around the world.
Bush was addressing the UN General Assembly amid turmoil in international markets over the faltering economy, caused by the crisis in financial institutions that has prompted the largest US government intervention in history.
'Our economies are more closely connected than ever before. And I know that many of you here are watching how the United States government will address the problems in our financial system,' Bush said in his final speech to the UN before he leaves office in January.
'In recent weeks, we have taken bold steps to prevent a severe disruption of the American economy, which would have a devastating effect on other economies around the world,' he said.
The Bush administration has proposed a 700-billion-dollar plan to rescue the financial industry and buy up mortgages and other failing assets to prevent a broader collapse of the economy and ensure borrowing credit remains available.
Returning to the theme that marked his first speech to the General Assembly only weeks after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Bush called on the UN to live up to its obligations to confront extremism.
'Instead of only passing resolutions decrying terrorist attacks after they occur, we must cooperate more closely to keep terrorist attacks from happening in the first place,' Bush said.
He said nations have a responsibility to ensure terrorists cannot find safe haven on their soil, and called on countries to combat arms proliferation, human trafficking and organized crime.
Terrorists reject the moral teachings of all religions and have no regard for the value of human life, the president said. 'They reject the words of the Bible, the Koran, the Torah, or any standard of conscience or morality.
'By deliberately murdering the innocent to advance their aims, these extremists defy the fundamental principles of international order,' he added.
Bush accused Iran and Syria of sponsoring international terrorism, and said UN nations must enforce Security Council sanctions against Iran and North Korea for their pursuit of nuclear weapons.
'We must remain vigilant against proliferation by fully implementing the terms of Security Council (resolutions) and enforcing sanctions against North Korea and Iran,' he said. 'We must not relent until our people are safe from this threat to civilization.'
Bush's comments came a day after North Korea took steps to resume work at its Yongbyon nuclear facility, a move that appears to halt the implementation of a disarmament agreement with the US and four other countries: China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.
The US has begun discussions with permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany about the possibility of enacting another round of sanctions against Iran over the Islamic state's refusal to comply with the council's demands to suspend uranium enrichment.
The US and its European allies suspect Iran is seeking the capability to build nuclear weapons by enriching uranium, while Tehran maintains the process is solely for producing energy.
Bush also touted the successes of toppling Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan, and said progress was being made to stabilize those countries.
'Over the past seven years, Afghanistan and Iraq have been transformed from regimes that actively sponsor terror to democracies that fight terror,' Bush said.
Bush launched the March 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq without the support of the Security Council, which refused to endorse the mission. He said, however, that countries must support the new Iraqi government despite his controversial decision to invade.
'Whatever disagreements our nations have had on Iraq, we should all welcome this progress towards stability and peace, and we should stand united in helping Iraq's democracy succeed,' Bush said.
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Older Talkback
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Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York says a lack of regulation by the Bush administration is responsible for the current economic troubles. The New York Sun reports Schumer says, 'Eight years of deregulatory zeal by the Bush administration, an attitude of 'the market can do no wrong,' have led us down a short path to economic recession.'
But Schumer fails to mention he has been a leading voice of deregulation. The Sun reports he championed the repeal in 1999 of the Glass-Steagall Act, the law which separated commercial and investment banking.
He also wrote an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal in 2006 which warned about what he called 'overzealous regulators' and opposed a bill in 2005 that would have transformed Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae from large investment funds into 'conduits' that only bought mortgages, packaged them into securities and sold them on the market.
This was preventable.Sep 21st, 2008 - 01:59:13
John McCain predicted Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac crises, pushed 2005 legislation to prevent trouble:
The 'FEDERAL HOUSING ENTERPRISE REGULATORY REFORM ACT OF 2005' would have headed this off but it was killed in the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs by Chris Dodd who recieved the most money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
President Bush sought to rein in Fannie and Freddie in 2003.
The Democratic response to Bush in 2003:
“These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis,” said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. “The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”
Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed.
“I don’t see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing,” Mr. Watt said.
John McCain foresaw the Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae disaster in 2006 — and tried against all Obama-Like minds to ward it off.
John McCain urged the passage of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005 (S.190(109th)), which he co-sponsored and which was rendered Dead in Congress. 'If Congress doesn't act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that F. Mae and F. Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole'
www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-_HlpZ8azA
'Iran's leader flashed a thumbs-down Tuesday as President Bush denounced Tehran as a sponsor of global terrorism in his farewell address to the U.N.'
PB siding with islamist terrorists who have murdered Americans again... We should pack your filthy ass up and ship you back to Iran.
'This is the speech that he should have delivered at the end of 2001,'
He was too busy waging war against the fecal matter that you adore.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The FBI is investigating four major U.S. financial institutions whose collapse helped trigger a $700 billion bailout plan by the Bush administration.
Two law enforcement officials said Tuesday the FBI is looking at potential fraud by mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500) and Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500), Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEH, Fortune 500), and insurer American International Group Inc. (AIG, Fortune 500)
The inquiries, still in preliminary stages, will focus on the financial institutions and the individuals that ran them, a senior law enforcement official said.
Officials said the new inquiries brings the number of corporate lenders under investigation over the last year to 26.
Spokesmen for AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did not immediately return calls for comment Tuesday evening. A Lehman spokesman did not have an immediate comment.
The law enforcement officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigations are ongoing and are in the very early stages.
Just last week, FBI Director Robert Mueller put the number of large financial firms under investigation at 24. He did not name any of the companies under investigation but said the FBI also is looking at whether any of them have misrepresented their assets
What is Doew?
As the latest figure indicate a lead from Obma with 51 percent of the votes the GOP gets nervous .Bye bye promise of a clean campaign.Hence the above posts filled with crap and lies posted not by indignated citizen but by a carefully crafted department of the Republican party,the now ill famous dirty trick department .The whole concept is to throw mud ,pile upon pile,in all the media possible,mobilizing their most simple minded partizans .THese get text together with keywords .Whenever possible they will copa and paste these text (which they neither wrote or even read) on the internet.All the posts above originate from the same person,already prepared and readt to be posted as soon as an interesting opportunity arises .They'll keep puking on Obama untill the stench repells the average voter .
Sincerely is this te concept of democracy ?
I thought it was a debate about the necessities of your future ?Like comparing ideas about health care,education for instance .Having nothing to offer no wonder these guys just plunge their pens in shit and mud and post their rantings .
These posts serve to msk reality .
quote frm another article here ,much mre factual;
Bush's financial gurus, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve head Ben Bernanke, pleaded for rapid passage without any add-ons or limitations by Congress.
unquote
THis is what they don't want to talk about.
The simple fct that the investment bankers are to receive 850 billuion dollars without any compensation,no regulation what so ever .
No wonder they 'll keep launching mud,facts are too dangerous for them to handle.
'Bush seeks to assure world on US economy'
Not a chance - the World has long ago recognised that nothing Bush says is to be believed. His wriggling and lies (plus total ignorance) are also reflected in all the Republican neocon posters on this site, who are simply following instructions to post lies which they have been brain-washed into believing
Incidentally - when McCain was a prisonewr - was there brainwshing then ? Remember that film about a brain washed candidate becoming president. Hollywood may occasionally foretell the future
assure the world of the US economy would be a lie.
everyone is going to take what he tries to say with a grain of salt. His speech writers might come up with a more less plausible speech, but, unfortunately, he probably won't be able to deliver it with any conviction.
I just love how M&C pulls posts down that it disagrees with but leaves spam, profanity and insanity up.
James Wray told me this wasn't going to happen any more... Someone needs to get the word to his censors.
& de M; C no es libertad de prensa enthuiastic.
Maybe what you consider discussion is in fact spam? You post the same crap all over every article, it appears to me that, that would be spam.
the only one smiling around here. Maybe he's got a little socked away for a rainy day.
page: 1
Bush achieves total irrelevanceSep 23rd, 2008 - 21:51:16
(Which is why the panicked GOP ass-kissers are turning the venue into their personal trash heap)
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j057jBReERcsF-FcZRSWe0h1gaXQD93CLK100
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iran's leader flashed a thumbs-down Tuesday as President Bush denounced Tehran as a sponsor of global terrorism in his farewell address to the U.N.
Then Bush got less than 10 seconds of polite applause at the end of a speech in which he urged world leaders to take 'an unequivocal moral stand' against suicide bombings, hostage taking and other terror tactics.
It was a decidedly low-key appearance, rehashing familiar themes, devoid of the passion Bush displayed in the early years of his presidency when he summoned the world after Sept. 11, 2001, to a battle against terrorism and tried — but failed — to win U.N. backing for the war in Iraq.
(This is the speech that he should have delivered at the end of 2001, and no one cares anymore - say hello to McCain's baggage; along with Wasilla the Hun)
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