The United States Position on the Current Financial Crisis

http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/economy/

Fact Sheet: Plan To Stabilize Financial System Is Limited In Size, Scope, And Duration

The Federal Government Is Acting Swiftly To Preserve Our System Of Free Market Capitalism And Return Our Nation To A Path Of Prosperity, Job Creation, And Long-Term Economic Growth

On October 17, 2008, President Bush visited the United States Chamber of Commerce and discussed the actions that the Federal Government has taken in response to the financial crisis. The President explained that the government took swift action to protect the financial security of the American people. One important element, the equity purchase program, is designed with strong protections to ensure the government's involvement is limited in size, limited in scope, and limited in duration:

• The government's involvement is limited in size. The government's investment is capped for any individual firm that chooses to participate in this voluntary program, so that private investors retain control.
• The government's involvement is limited in scope. The government will not exercise control over any private firm. The shares owned by the government will have voting rights that can be used only to protect the taxpayer's investment – not to direct the firm's operations.
• The government's involvement is limited in duration. This program includes provisions to encourage banks to buy back their shares from the government when the markets stabilize and they can raise money from private investors.

We must never lose sight of the enormous benefits delivered by the free enterprise system. Democratic capitalism remains the greatest system ever devised. Around the world, free market policies have lifted millions of people out of poverty and given them the opportunity to build a more hopeful life. In the United States, it has given our large and dynamic economy the flexibility and resilience to absorb shocks, adjust, and bounce back.

... it continues.

The Misunderestimated Man - How Bush Chose Stupidity. By Jacob Weisberg

Sadly, I must agree with a brilliant article written by Jacob Weisberg.
My comment:

"I like your article because it shows an astute mind rightfully incensed by the individual who occupies the highest office in the land and clearly lacks the qualifications. One must ask the question: "How in Heaven did he get there?" What do two won elections tell us about the discretion of Congress, the media and most of all the American People. If one believe that his installation was somehow engineered by a cabal of conspirators who were grimly ratified by senators and such on the make, then the current financial demise of the nation has rendered them their just rewards. But, I think that, yes, there was a conspiracy, although in the words of Gary Allen, none dare call it that, but conspiracy none the less. It is easy to surmise given the amount of secrecy that hidden agenda and covert processes are continually turning the well greased gears of government. So, Dubbya is elected with for-knowledge of everything that Jacob Weisberg writes about. Either we share in his stupidity corporately, or we honored it for some darker motive. It has been written that Laurel and Hardy's tremendous fame was based upon the notion that no one could be stupider than them, thus making everyone else feel superior. The same philosophy applies to Silvester Stallone. I think GW came at a time when the American Public, filled with excess and false ideas about it's power and sophistication delighted in electing a man who has already often been recorded as the stupidest person in all history ... him, his family, his friends and most of all those who cast their ballot in his favor. My old Sicilian grandfather had one word for people who prefer to be stupid, Mr. Weisberg ... the word is: "Ignoranza!""

Weisberg Article dated May 7, 2004, at 9:54 AM ET

Was he born that way?Adapted from the introduction to The Deluxe Election-Edition Bushisms, published by Fireside Books/Simon & Schuster. Reprinted with permission; © 2004 Jacob Weisberg.

The question I am most frequently asked about Bushisms is, "Do you really think the president of the United States is dumb?" Read on ...