Something Wicked This Way Comes: U.S Mortgage Crisis

The $700 Billion rescue plan that should help save the American economy “is able to avoid a recession in the country and can save jobs,” said U.S. President George W. Bush during the message to the nation delivered in the East Room of the White House. The speech was broadcast live during prime time TV, when television audience is at its highest. The occupant of the White House made clear that now is an “extraordinary” moment for America. “We are in the middle of a financial crisis,” he added.

“APPROVE THE PLAN”

In a dramatic televised speech of 15 minutes, with his face particularly tense, the U.S. president urged Congress to approve an ambitious rescue plan to stem the crisis in the mortgage that is undermining the U.S. economy as soon as possible. In his speech to the nation, Bush tried to explain, with an almost righteous tone, the reasons for the crisis and confirmed that the two candidates for his succession, the Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, will be in the White House to discuss the crisis.

SOUND THE ALARMS

If the plan is not approved, Bush said, “people will encounter a long and painful recession, with millions of Americans losing their jobs.” Bush’s intervention in prime time television ended a long and dramatic day, while an agreement in Congress, after long hours of back and forth among the representatives, now seems closer to overcoming a series of difficulties including capping the salaries of CEOs.

OBAMA – MCCAIN

A few hours before Bush’s presidential address, McCain, convinced that the plan would not be approved, called to suspend his election campaign and to postpone the first debate with Obama scheduled for tomorrow. Obama refused, but the two published a joint statement with a commitment to resolve the crisis in a bipartisan manner. The Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson, and the Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke, urged Congress to quickly approve financial rescue plan so as to restore stability to markets and avoid “severe” consequences on the economy. Bernanke, in front of the House, has explained that the U.S. economy in the second half of the year will increase well below its potential partly because the global economic slowdown will reduce U.S. exports, which had driven growth in the first three months.