Bush Says Citigroup Deal Needed to Protect System

AP via Yahoo News ^ | 11/24/08 | Jennifer Loven

[marshmallow]

Bush defends Citigroup rescue, says more such moves are possible if others need help

WASHINGTON (AP) -- 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 spoke with President-elect Barack Obama on Monday morning about the move, 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 might be next in line for government assistance. "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.

He also said that the Treasury Department could rethink its decision last week to leave the final $350 billion of the $700 billion in bailout money approved by Congress for the Obama administration. Fratto said Treasury officials "wouldn't hesitate to go to Congress" for that money if it feels it is needed now.

[LibLieSlayer]

Yada yada yada... spend spend spend... go to Crawford Mr. President... your replacement has plans for all of the rest of our money that you have not spent yet... we no longer need you to spend what he will just confiscate.

LLS

[Boiling Pots]

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/in_the_know_should_the_government

[rabscuttle385]

The Money, Banking, and Financial Markets Ping List. "Money, not morality, is the principle commerce of civilized nations." —Thomas Jefferson FR Keywords: moneylist, bankinglist, financelist Please tag all relevant threads with the aforementioned keywords. This can be a very high-volume ping list at times. Ping list jointly pinged by rabscuttle385 and TigerLikesRooster. To join the ping list: FReepmail rabscuttle385 with the subject line add  moneylist. (Stop getting pings by sending the subject line drop moneylist.)

[RightWhale]

The next Pres seems to be equally unwilling to explain what the h is going on.

[RetiredArmy]

Rush said today that the federal deficit was going to be somewhere around $1.4 TRILLION dollars this year. He said the US would have to borrow this money to pay for this deficit. My question is this: If all the banks and lending institutions are failing and have no money, WHO is the US government going to borrow all this money FROM??? Are they going to give the bail out money to the banks and then borrow it back at large interest rates?

[rabscuttle385]

*Ping!*

[E. Cartman]

The guy is certifiably nuts, OR is drinking heavily again.OR quite frankly, BOTH.

Or he smoked a lot more pakalolo in college than even he realized.

[1rudeboy]

ROTFLMAO

We are wondering where the Bushbots have gone, while posting libtard crap from Kos.

[PEACE ENFORCER]

The sand people must be dancin’ in their turbins.

[trumandogz]

It should be clear to everyone that both major parties are Socislist.

And the USA under a GOP President has become a Socialist State.

[boxer21]

I have forgotten, what does credible mean again?

[AC-130 Gunship]

THAT was frickin’ hilarious! Thanks...

[boxer21]

Probably in the TBA where the free market reigns supreme; better come armed to the teeth.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

NEW TONE BABY! YEAH! Maybe Al Gore should have stolen the 2000 election after all

[Shermy]

“WHO is the US government going to borrow all this money FROM???”

The same people who are calling the shots now, the Europeans, Gulf Arabs, Japanese Chinese.

They are made because they bought a majority of the toxic paper. Paulson himself was a big promoter of it.

So why must Bush follow the foreigners dictates? Because they finance his historically large and stupid deficits, the “tax cuts” which were phony, just tax deferrals, we’re paying for them now, big time.

If Bush doesn’t bail out the foreigners, they don’t buy his debt. So he has to go more into debt. Or else lose his legacy fantasy about being good on the economy. He’s not. He’s the worst ever—Hoover didn’t practice fiscal insanity.

Plus Paulson and the Goldman Sachs crew are running the show now, paying off the toxic paper they helped push overseas.

[HardStarboard]

Just watched the stunned faces on CNBC's Fast Money as Laura Tyson, former Clinton economist and current Obama advisor, told them that even with the $300 billion bailout Citi would be keeping its toxic assets on the books.

Macke made a beautiful comment....."so Citi's worth not what the market says it is, but what the Government tells us it is".

...socalism is truly here.

[softengine]

Hell yes!!! OMG, I have been saying this for so long.

[boxer21]

The advice I gave my son as long as he insists upon staying in the market: buy stock in printing press companies.

[RetiredArmy]

So, we actually have to borrow money from the enemy? Just freaking great. I am not up on such things. So, I was wondering where we would get the loans from. I suspected it had to be like that, but we truly are doomed if we are borrowing all that from them. All this country has pumped into all these countries over the years and now we are in the dumps for money. I thought long ago, why do we keep pumping money all around the world. What did we get from it. Normally, not much for our return. This proves it too me.

[AC-130 Gunship]

"Or he smoked a lot more pakalolo in college than even he realized."

Lol, has he ever stopped?? His pipe collection probably fills the entire WH basement....hmmmm....lotsa florescent lighting...maybe that what the 100,000 acres is all about. ;-)