# Bush's Speech **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 25, 2008, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095 "2008-09-25T01:16:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/1 "2008-09-25T01:16:11Z")
Good explanation of how we got into the crisis, but did not lay the responsibility on anyone. Fire the sound guy who let that mic rub and squeak the whole time. So he has invited Obama and McCain to DC tomorrow. I guess that makes them free to debate on Friday… In short…meh. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/2 "2008-09-25T01:19:13Z")
No, it was the poor people getting loans from good bankers that kicked it all off. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/3 "2008-09-25T01:22:12Z")
He forgot the part about the low interest rates after 9/11 changed everything. ---
**Author:** ![Caveat\_lector\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@Caveat\_lector\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caveat_lector_1)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/4 "2008-09-25T01:50:14Z")
The speech gave pretty good explanations for what it was and might keep some people from panicking over their savings account. He didn’t lay the blame anywhere but I didn’t expect him to and I don’t think that was the point. Stylistically it was one of the better ones he has given. If he always spoke like that he’d not get made fun of so much or at least it’d be for different reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/5 "2008-09-25T02:25:21Z")
There was an awful lot of technical detail about arcane financial instruments that will go right over the heads of many people. When he was explaining how people stopped paying their mortgages and mortgaged backed securities lost value, leading to a glut on the market, I was thinking he needed a good analogy, like: “You know how when your neighbor signs up with Amway and starts sellin’ soap, and then he gets the whole neighborhood to sign up with Amway and they start sellin’ soap, and suddenly everybody has more soap than they know what to do with, and nobody can sell their soap anymore, because there’s just too much darn soap in the neighborhood? The economy is kinda like that right now.” I think he could have sold it like that. ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/6 "2008-09-25T02:35:19Z")
> [@Caveat\_lector\_1](#): > > Stylistically it was one of the better ones he has given. If he always spoke like that he’d not get made fun of so much or at least it’d be for different reasons. Well this is one of the few speeches where he has not had to say “nucular”. ---
**Author:** ![A\_shameful\_cracka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@A\_shameful\_cracka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_shameful_cracka)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/7 "2008-09-25T02:37:57Z")
It’s a crying shame that it’s taken Bush 7 years to learn how to be a not altogether awful president. If the election was Bush vs. McCain today, I’d vote for Bush, and I’m saying that as an Obama supporter. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/8 "2008-09-25T02:40:55Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > Well this is one of the few speeches where he has not had to say “nucular”. Palin does though. ---
**Author:** ![XaMcQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/f9ae1b/32.png) [@XaMcQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XaMcQ)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/9 "2008-09-25T02:44:26Z")
> [@Caveat\_lector\_1](#): > > The speech gave pretty good explanations for what it was and might keep some people from panicking over their savings account. He didn’t lay the blame anywhere but I didn’t expect him to and I don’t think that was the point. > > Stylistically it was one of the better ones he has given. If he always spoke like that he’d not get made fun of so much or at least it’d be for different reasons. I agree this was perhaps his best effort, or at least the best one I’ve seen. I was actually able to watch it without cringing in embarrassment or boiling with rage. Kudos to the writers and whoever coached him. ---
**Author:** ![Caveat\_lector\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@Caveat\_lector\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caveat_lector_1)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/10 "2008-09-25T02:56:27Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > Well this is one of the few speeches where he has not had to say “nucular”. As a guy who, due to a mostly gone speech impediment, has to seriously make an effort to properly pronounce his own last name\* that is the one thing about his speaking I’ve never had an issue with. He just usually seems…smarmy, but here he seem like an actual president. \*Yeah I looove introductions. Hi, I’m Caveat Lector! No…Lector. Lector… Lector!.. _sigh_ That’ll work… ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/11 "2008-09-25T03:40:48Z")
Bush actually deserves a lot of credit for trying to work this problem a long time ago. The Bush administration has issued a dozen warnings about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, starting in 2003. The Treasury Secretary went to Capitol Hill multiple times to lecture them on the need to reform financial regulations. Bush’s 2005 budget has a section in it that specifically says that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are a threat to taxpayers and need more oversight. The Clinton administration also tried to get Congress to move on this. Unfortunately, it’s Congress that writes the laws, and they chose to do nothing. This is why Congress deserves its near-single-digit approval ratings. And both parties in Congress are to blame. And also unfortunately, even though Congress as a whole is despised by the American people, gerrymandering and other incumbent advantages means that the vast majority will be re-elected. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/12 "2008-09-25T04:27:08Z")
Place your right hand in the air and your left hand on the hockey puck, and repeat after me: I, **Sam Stone** , solemnly swear on Anne Murray’s ass, that I sincerely believe that George W. Bush did everything a President ought to do in terms of his duty, in regard to this crisis. And I further believe that he exhausted every effort, and every weapon in his vast presidential and intellectual armory, to avert this situation. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/13 "2008-09-25T04:42:28Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Place your right hand in the air and your left hand on the hockey puck, and repeat after me: > > I, **Sam Stone** , solemnly swear on Anne Murray’s ass, that I sincerely believe that George W. Bush did everything a President ought to do in terms of his duty, in regard to this crisis. And I further believe that he exhausted every effort, and every weapon in his vast presidential and intellectual armory, to avert this situation. How about I let Bush to the talking? This is what the administration did over the past 7 years: > [@](#): > > 2001 > > April: The Administration’s FY02 budget declares that the size of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is “a potential problem,” because “financial trouble of a large GSE could cause strong repercussions in financial markets, affecting Federally insured entities and economic activity.” > > 2002 > > May: The President calls for the disclosure and corporate governance principles contained in his 10-point plan for corporate responsibility to apply to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (OMB Prompt Letter to OFHEO, 5/29/02) > > 2003 > > January: Freddie Mac announces it has to restate financial results for the previous three years. > > February: The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) releases a report explaining that “although investors perceive an implicit Federal guarantee of [GSE] obligations,” “the government has provided no explicit legal backing for them.” As a consequence, unexpected problems at a GSE could immediately spread into financial sectors beyond the housing market. (“Systemic Risk: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Role of OFHEO,” OFHEO Report, 2/4/03) > > September: Fannie Mae discloses SEC investigation and acknowledges OFHEO’s review found earnings manipulations. > > September: Treasury Secretary John Snow testifies before the House Financial Services Committee to recommend that Congress enact “legislation to create a new Federal agency to regulate and supervise the financial activities of our housing-related government sponsored enterprises” and set prudent and appropriate minimum capital adequacy requirements. > > October: Fannie Mae discloses $1.2 billion accounting error. > > November: Council of the Economic Advisers (CEA) Chairman Greg Mankiw explains that any “legislation to reform GSE regulation should empower the new regulator with sufficient strength and credibility to reduce systemic risk.” To reduce the potential for systemic instability, the regulator would have “broad authority to set both risk-based and minimum capital standards” and “receivership powers necessary to wind down the affairs of a troubled GSE.” (N. Gregory Mankiw, Remarks At The Conference Of State Bank Supervisors State Banking Summit And Leadership, 11/6/03) > > 2004 > > February: The President’s FY05 Budget again highlights the risk posed by the explosive growth of the GSEs and their low levels of required capital, and called for creation of a new, world-class regulator: “The Administration has determined that the safety and soundness regulators of the housing GSEs lack sufficient power and stature to meet their responsibilities, and therefore…should be replaced with a new strengthened regulator.” (2005 Budget Analytic Perspectives, pg. 83) > > February: CEA Chairman Mankiw cautions Congress to “not take [the financial market’s] strength for granted.” Again, the call from the Administration was to reduce this risk by “ensuring that the housing GSEs are overseen by an effective regulator.” (N. Gregory Mankiw, Op-Ed, “Keeping Fannie And Freddie’s House In Order,” Financial Times, 2/24/04) > > June: Deputy Secretary of Treasury Samuel Bodman spotlights the risk posed by the GSEs and called for reform, saying “We do not have a world-class system of supervision of the housing government sponsored enterprises (GSEs), even though the importance of the housing financial system that the GSEs serve demands the best in supervision to ensure the long-term vitality of that system. Therefore, the Administration has called for a new, first class, regulatory supervisor for the three housing GSEs: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banking System.” (Samuel Bodman, House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Testimony, 6/16/04) > > 2005 > > April: Treasury Secretary John Snow repeats his call for GSE reform, saying “Events that have transpired since I testified before this Committee in 2003 reinforce concerns over the systemic risks posed by the GSEs and further highlight the need for real GSE reform to ensure that our housing finance system remains a strong and vibrant source of funding for expanding homeownership opportunities in America… Half-measures will only exacerbate the risks to our financial system.” (Secretary John W. Snow, “Testimony Before The U.S. House Financial Services Committee,” 4/13/05) > > 2007 > > July: Two Bear Stearns hedge funds invested in mortgage securities collapse. > > August: President Bush emphatically calls on Congress to pass a reform package for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying “first things first when it comes to those two institutions. Congress needs to get them reformed, get them streamlined, get them focused, and then I will consider other options.” (President George W. Bush, Press Conference, The White House, 8/9/07) > > September: RealtyTrac announces foreclosure filings up 243,000 in August – up 115 percent from the year before. > > September: Single-family existing home sales decreases 7.5 percent from the previous month – the lowest level in nine years. Median sale price of existing homes fell six percent from the year before. > > December: President Bush again warns Congress of the need to pass legislation reforming GSEs, saying “These institutions provide liquidity in the mortgage market that benefits millions of homeowners, and it is vital they operate safely and operate soundly. So I’ve called on Congress to pass legislation that strengthens independent regulation of the GSEs – and ensures they focus on their important housing mission. The GSE reform bill passed by the House earlier this year is a good start. But the Senate has not acted. And the United States Senate needs to pass this legislation soon.” (President George W. Bush, Discusses Housing, The White House, 12/6/07) > > 2008 > > January: Bank of America announces it will buy Countrywide. > > January: Citigroup announces mortgage portfolio lost $18.1 billion in value. > > February: Assistant Secretary David Nason reiterates the urgency of reforms, says “A new regulatory structure for the housing GSEs is essential if these entities are to continue to perform their public mission successfully.” (David Nason, Testimony On Reforming GSE Regulation, Senate Committee On Banking, Housing And Urban Affairs, 2/7/08) > > March: Bear Stearns announces it will sell itself to JPMorgan Chase. > > March: President Bush calls on Congress to take action and “move forward with reforms on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They need to continue to modernize the FHA, as well as allow State housing agencies to issue tax-free bonds to homeowners to refinance their mortgages.” (President George W. Bush, Remarks To The Economic Club Of New York, New York, NY, 3/14/08) > > April: President Bush urges Congress to pass the much needed legislation and “modernize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. [There are] constructive things Congress can do that will encourage the housing market to correct quickly by … helping people stay in their homes.” (President George W. Bush, Meeting With Cabinet, the White House, 4/14/08) > > May: President Bush issues several pleas to Congress to pass legislation reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before the situation deteriorates further. > > ``` > * > > "Americans are concerned about making their mortgage payments and keeping their homes. Yet Congress has failed to pass legislation I have repeatedly requested to modernize the Federal Housing Administration that will help more families stay in their homes, reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to ensure they focus on their housing mission, and allow State housing agencies to issue tax-free bonds to refinance sub-prime loans." (President George W. Bush, Radio Address, 5/3/08) > * > > "[T]he government ought to be helping creditworthy people stay in their homes. And one way we can do that – and Congress is making progress on this – is the reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. That reform will come with a strong, independent regulator." (President George W. Bush, Meeting With The Secretary Of The Treasury, the White House, 5/19/08) > * > > "Congress needs to pass legislation to modernize the Federal Housing Administration, reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to ensure they focus on their housing mission, and allow State housing agencies to issue tax-free bonds to refinance subprime loans." (President George W. Bush, Radio Address, 5/31/08) > > ``` > > June: As foreclosure rates continued to rise in the first quarter, the President once again asks Congress to take the necessary measures to address this challenge, saying “we need to pass legislation to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.” (President George W. Bush, Remarks At Swearing In Ceremony For Secretary Of Housing And Urban Development, Washington, D.C., 6/6/08) > > July: Congress heeds the President’s call for action and passes reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as it becomes clear that the institutions are failing. That’s just the stuff on the record. His administration also lobbied behind the scenes, pushing Congress to act. And guess who the big stumbling blocks were this time around? The Democrats. Chris Dodd opposed Bush every time. He issued statements that there was nothing wrong with Fannie and Freddie. He lobbied to kill every reform bill that came along. After he controlled the banking committee, it no longer even had hearings on Fannie and Freddie. Last year, Dodd lobbied to have Fannie and Freddie’s credit limits raised so they could expand even more. Hillary Clinton’s campaign had a plan to _increase_ the number of mortgages Fannie and Freddie should give out. She wanted to ‘fix’ the housing crisis by making credit even more available. Barack Obama wanted to take $500 million a year out of Fannie and Freddie’s liquid assets and use it to build 14,000 low income homes a year across the U.S. Barney Frank repeatedly issued statements that not only were these institutions sound, but even if they were to fail no one should worry because there was no way in hell Congress would bail them out. He called Bush’s request to reform them ‘inane’. Compare and Contrast. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/14 "2008-09-25T05:13:26Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > Well this is one of the few speeches where he has not had to say “nucular”. From Wiki: _“U.S. presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, **Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton** , and George W. Bush have all used this pronunciation.”_ [bolding mine] [Cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucular), scroll to “Usage by politicians.” ---
**Author:** ![groo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecd19e/32.png) [@groo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/15 "2008-09-25T05:24:18Z")
Wow! One of his best speeches? Did you guys hear the same speech I did? **HE LIED.** Or, rather, he put two statements right up against each other and implied that they were related. We’re going to buy distressed mortgage-backed securities. In a completely unrelated note, Americans have historically tended to pay back their mortgages. When this bill passes, the American citizens will be buying back the worst and most risky debts. The bankers will have no reason to pick the best CDOs and give them to John Q Public; they’re going to be offering up the ones that are worth the least. Bush has an MBA from Harvard, so I’m granting that he’s an intelligent, savvy fellow. That being the case, his statement that the American public will see any of this money come back is a Lie. He looked in your face and lied. He said he’d have rather had the businesses fail because he’s a fiscal conservative, and that was a lie as well. Our free market was riding merrily along, running with the sublime smoothness that only a free market can enjoy until the middle of last week, when all of a sudden, in ways no one on earth could have ever predicted, the US banking system seemed to reach a crisis. His statement last week was that he did not see any problem until the crisis happened **just last week**. I can’t believe that he would be that stupid, so he must have known that everything was falling apart. Saying that he realized it last week was a lie. This is another made-up crisis to force Congress to give the Fed unlimited power to do anything it wants, and what he wants is for the financial institutions to get back to business as normal. In the second draft of this legislation, Bernanke actually changed the language to go beyond real estate CDOs and cover any troubled debt instruments. Citibank, Sears, GM, they all have bad debt to sell us, and we’re about to very selectively buy the worst of the worst debt. If we were buying an ETF that represented all mortgages everywhere, we might be able to believe that the “historical” behavior of the debtors might apply, but **that’s not what we’re going to get!** They are going to buy the **crappy** debts that the financial institutions want to bury under a rock behind the tool shed, not the good debts. They know which is which, and by definition they will not be selling us any of this “good debt.” This $700B is not being offered to the banking industry to help relieve them of their good debt instruments; it’s being offered to them so they can unload the shittiest of their _troubled asset instruments_. And you know what? Everyone who signed up for mortgages they could never repay will have no reason at all to continue paying. Why bother? It’s the US Government, and the US Government won’t be evicting anyone. They’ll just write each one off as another few hundred thosand dollars spent on a social welfare program, and any of use who get W-2s at the end of the year will be paying. So, I didn’t get the memo. Just how did anyone come to the conclusion that as of mid-September 2008, Bush decided to start speaking the truth? ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/16 "2008-09-25T05:46:52Z")
I think the Bush administration has done a reasonable job with this crisis so far but let’s not pretend that his statements about Fannie and Freddie had anything much to do with the sub-prime problem. The two GSE’s had a fairly minor role in the sub-prime market and the crisis would have happened even if they didn’t exist. If there are warnings by Bush about the actual source of the problem: sub-prime loans and their securitization before the crisis that would be impressive. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/17 "2008-09-25T06:30:00Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] How about I let Bush to the talking? This is what the administration did over the past 7 years [/quote] In case anyone missed it, **Sam** is quoting verbatim [this](http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/09/20080919-15.html) White House press release. I’m not criticizing, just clarifying. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/18 "2008-09-25T07:57:59Z")
Well, yeah, **Groo** , they’re mostly worthless, but everybody gets a share! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/19 "2008-09-25T07:59:13Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > In case anyone missed it, **Sam** is quoting verbatim [this](http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/09/20080919-15.html) White House press release. I’m not criticizing, just clarifying. Sure, that’s how we know we’re getting the straight facts, right from the horse’s, ah, mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095/20 "2008-09-25T08:04:37Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Well, yeah, **Groo** , they’re mostly worthless, but everybody gets a share! No they are not worthless. Many of them have good loans buried inside, and even the bad ones have the price of the house behind them. The real question is what gets paid for them. If the government hangs on to these things until the market recovers, they might actually make a profit, and especially if they get a stake in the banks. In the short run it’s going to cost, but in the long run it might work out. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-speech/465095.md?page=2)