Posted on 12/01/2008 11:12:35 AM PST by WilliamReading
WASHINGTON (AP) - President George W. Bush expressed remorse that the global financial crisis has cost jobs and harmed retirement accounts and said he'll back more government intervention if needed to ease the recession.
"I'm sorry it's happening, of course," Bush said in a wide-ranging interview with ABC's "World News," which was airing Monday. "Obviously I don't like the idea of people losing jobs, or being worried about their 401(k)s. On the other hand, the American people got to know that we will safeguard the system. I mean, we're in. And if we need to be in more, we will."
The U.S. economy fell into a recession in December 2007, the National Bureau of Economic Research reported on Monday. Many economists believe the current downturn will last until the middle of 2009 and will be the most severe slump since the 1981-82 recession.
On the war in Iraq, Bush said the biggest regret of his presidency was the "intelligence failure" regarding the extent of the Saddam Hussein threat to the United States. With the support of Congress, Bush ordered the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003—a decision largely justified on grounds—later proved false—that Saddam was building weapons of mass destruction.
"A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein," he said. "That's not a do-over, but I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess."
Asked if he would have ordered the U.S.-led invasion if intelligence reports had accurately indicated that Saddam did not have the weapons, Bush replied: "You know, that's an interesting question.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Stevens thought he would be found not guilty by the jury. He should have had the trial after the election, not before.
it is true that she has no executive experience or even elected political experience. I think you should have to be elected to at least a state-wide post before you can even consider the presidency.
But she can own anyone in a debate! It’s about time we had someone like that.
HUH?
we all saw it coming years ago. He was the king of pork barrel politics.
Your first concern should be about the suffering of the American people as a result of the leftwing misgovernment that the Bush family has provided the United States. At this point, after the betrayal of conservative values by this Bush family, I could care less about their suffering.
Snort.....you haven't seen anything yet....wait until the empty suit and his gang of 400 advisers take the helm. Welcome to FR.
we wouldn’t have Obama if Bush was up to par.
We wouldn’t have had this “empty suit” to deal with if it weren’t for GWB. And thanks!
Thank you for your....guess....Nostradamus.
See 89, troll.
No more intervention! Just get government out of the way and let the market handle it!
I don’t think we can make a determination about how much Sarah Palin knows, and how intelligent she is. She wasn’t terribly impressive during this campaign because she had to follow McCain’s lead. He was like a lead weight tied around her neck. Without him and his advisers, she might just surprise some people. She had done some pretty impressive things.
As for GWB, he was not a conservative, and did not represent conservatives well. The man didn’t veto a single bill until 6 years into his presidency. I don’t think he is a bad guy personally, but he shares a large amount of the blame for the current state of our country. Had he actually been a conservative, I doubt we would be in the predicament we are in.
Bush is a Harvard MBA for the same reason so many Hollywood actors are Ivy leaguse grads despite having subpar credentials. The schools protect their endowment above all else. Bush is clearly of average intelligence.
I’d rather hear some remorse and apologies from the Democrat a-holes who caused our economic downturn.
GWB was more up to the job than Clinton or Carter were.
Yeah, ya got a good point there.
GWB will probably be rated above Carter, but below Bill Clinton.
His wife just got nominated for Secretary of State.
Jeb Bush couldn’t run for political office because of his last name.
He was a mediocre president. However, it’s better to have a mediocre president than a bats*** insane marxist dictator.
This is the nightmare we wake up to in the morning.
Mr. President, you were handed a very bad hand with national insecurity. Some folks have forgotten how you stood up on 9/11 to do the job at hand. Our country could have sunk into economic h*ll at that time, but it did not. I disagree with your immigration stance, but I understand your heart. I think this crisis was created to open up a power vacuum. This was not your fault. It happened with Greenspan who double crossed you, along with many others. In a couple of years I think others will long for the days of your Presidency.
What changed after 2004 is that McCain tied both his hands and his feet with the Gang of 14 and told him to dance. Then 2006 came along and Nancy removed his testicles with nail clippers.
That's what happened to Bush. Thanks, Juan McCain.
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