By SPA
Washington : US President George W. Bush on Friday reiterated that the U.S. economy has a solid foundation, though it is currently facing a downturn.
Speaking at Hallmark Cards Incorporated in Kansas City, Missouri, Bush’s comments came amidst widespread concern about the state of the U.S. economy and the prospect of a recession.
Hours before Bush spoke, the U.S. Labor Department released a report saying that 17,000 U.S. jobs were cut in the month of January. Coming off of those findings, Bush said that “the fundamentals are strong” for the economy, but the job loss comes as “serious signs that the economy is weakening and we’ve [the U.S. government has] got to do something about it.” January’s job losses are “fist time in 52 months that we [the United States] didn’t create jobs,” Bush said.
Though there has been considerable concern regarding both the failures in the housing and credit markets, Bush paid close attention to the downturn in housing in the United States. Bush repeatedly stated the importance of the U.S. government’s role in helping people “stay in their homes” during a time when many Americans can no longer afford their mortgage payments.
Facing increasing home foreclosure rates and continued rising mortgage costs, Bush said the government has an obligation to help Americans during this “difficult period in their life.” “During this downcycle,” Bush said, the U.S. government needs to “help individual Americans.”
During his address, Bush made clear that the U.S. “government has a responsibility,” to Americans to help them “deal with this period of [economic] uncertainly.” Echoing his statements from previous speeches, Bush urged the U.S. Senate to pass a $146 billion stimulus bill that he jointly created with the U.S. House of Representatives, aimed at reviving the failing U.S. economy.
Bush reiterated that it is imperative that the Senate bill, like the House bill, is “temporary, robust,” and focuses on providing tax rebates for Americans that will spend the money quickly, in turn stimulating the economy.
The Senate must finalize the bill without excessive additives, and must “finish their work quickly,” Bush said. He added that “the sooner this package makes it to my desk [to be signed into law]…the better off our economy is going to be.”
Bush concluded by saying that he is confident that the United States can “recover from this period of uncertainty…confident we can get through this rough patch.”