But no question America will emerge

Today Bush went to Guernsey Office Products, Inc. and spoke about the Wall Street Bailout and Free Cash and Fur-Lined Toilet Seat Act of 2008.

WHAT’S INTERESTING TO KNOW: “It’s interesting to know that is a trusted name throughout the Washington area.”

NO QUESTION: “No question the times are tough, but no question America will emerge.”


HE HAS AN MBA, YOU KNOW: “And that’s the definition of a credit crunch: people just are not lending.”

HE HAS AN MBA, YOU KNOW: “See, when credit runs dry in one part of our economy, there’s a chain reaction.”

HE HAS AN MBA, YOU KNOW: “When you’re building desks and selling desks, you find work and you keep work.”

IN OTHER WORDS: “There’s oversight as the bill gets implemented. In other words, people in Washington will worry whether there’s too much power in the Treasury, therefore, let’s have reasonable oversight.”

AND VICE VERSA, OR SOMETHING: “We live in a globalized world.”


OH LOOK WHO’S SUDDENLY CONCERNED WITH HAVING WELL-THOUGHT-OUT AND WELL-DELIVERED PLANS: “It’s going to take time for these actions that I’ve described to you in the bill to have full effect. You want to make sure that when we move, we move effectively. You want to make sure that the plan is well thought-out and well delivered.”

SO THE LIQUID IS FREED UP AND THEN IT UNWINDS? “The federal government moved -- Federal Reserve moved to try to free up liquidity so that this credit crisis begins to unwind.” This one isn’t of Bush’s coinage (or as Sarah Palin would put it, verbage), but “freeing up liquidity” always seems like bad English to me.

BUSH AND I HAVE VERY DIFFERENT IDEAS ABOUT WHAT’S INTERESTING: “Well, interestingly enough, when you securitize mortgages and sell them, it means that the people who originated your mortgage is -- no longer owns the paper.”

NOT THAT HE WOULD KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MAKING BAD DECISIONS AND FAILING: “And I told you, I made a decision that is really opposite of my philosophy. I basically believe if people make bad decisions in the marketplace, they ought to fail.”

WHAT GEORGE UNDERSTANDS BETTER THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY KNOW: “And, listen, I understand America’s frustrations -- better than you can possibly know.”

HOW DOES HE UNDERSTAND AMERICA’S FRUSTRATIONS BETTER THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY KNOW? BECAUSE OF SOME CONVERSATION HE HAD WITH THE VOICES IN HIS HEAD: “I went home out there to west Texas where I was raised. Some old guy said, you know, hey, man, what are you doing? (Laughter.) And I said, I’m recognizing reality, that this is a serious economic situation that requires strong government action. And that’s what we’ve taken.” Really, George, isn’t it a little late in the day to try recognizing reality?

IN OTHER WORDS: “The positive news is, long-term mortgage rates are dropping. In other words, money is becoming cheaper to buy a mortgage.”

IN OTHER WORDS: “And I really suspect that when we dig into the mortgage issue that people were buying mortgages that they had no idea they’re going to reset. In other words, somebody went out there and said, here, you got yourself low interest rates, but they forgot to tell them in two or three years’ time that interest rate was going go bump up, and it caught people by surprise.”

In the q&a, the chair of a local chamber of commerce asked what he’d advise chambers of commerce to do: “I would advise the president to make sure that which you do -- that which the -- the powers inherent in the bill, when we do something, they’re effective.” So, yeah, go and do that.