Bush: 'Bold' rescue, 'difficult' vote

by Mark Silva

"I fully understand that this will be a difficult vote,'' President Bush said this morning of the vote facing the House today and the vote facing the Senate later this week.

That is the vote for a $700 billion investment of public money in a national financial crisis that threatens to freeze credit and thrust the nation into what he has said could be a "long and painful recession.''

The agreement reached by congressional leaders over the weekend envisions recovering much of the money invested, or all of it, by reselling the toxic mortgage debt that the government will be buying when the market turns around - and also by requiring the banks that benefit from this bailout to make up any remaining cost after five years if all the money is not recovered.

Nevertheless, the prospect of putting as much as $700 billion in taxpayer dollars on the line is causing members of both parties in Congress to question the greatest government intervention in the economy since the Great Depression. The House is expected to vote as soon as today, the Senate as early as Wednesday.

The congressional leaders' agreement -- and the president's message from the South Lawn of the White House this morning - is timed to ensure the tock market reopening today that stability will be restored and consumer confidence will be bolstered.
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"Every member of Congress and every American should keep in mind, a vote for this bill is a vote to prevent economic damage for your community,'' the president said at a podium propped on the South Lawn this morning just after 7:30 am EDT.

Bush called the bill, which his administration sought and which was modified by leaders, "an extraordinary agreement to deal with an extraordinary problem in our economy... a bold bill that will help keep the financial crisis from spreading throughout our economy.

"I appreciate the leadership of members on both sides of the aisle who came together when our nation was counting on them.

"The bipartisan financial rescue plan addresses the root cause of the crisis,'' Bush said, his administration arguing that bad debt is "clogging'' the financial system and threatening to force the gears of the economy to "grind to a halt.... The federal government will be authorized to purchase these assets from banks and other financial institutions which will help free them to continue lending.

The plan "will help restart the flow of credit, so American families can meet their daily needs.. ..We will make sure that the American government is serious about restoring confidence.

"This bill commits up to $700billion of taxpayer dollars,'' the president said. "However, both the nonpartisan Congressional Budge Office and the Office of Management and Budget expect that the ultimate cost will be far less than that... In fact we expect that over time much or all of the money will be paid back.''