Bush promotes rescue plan, Dems tout stimulus

President Bush, after a week of touting the federal government’s financial rescue package, on Saturday used his weekly radio address to allay investors’ and the public’s concerns over the plan. 

However, he also told Americans that the measure would take time to unclog the flow of credit and would not provide a quick fix to all that is hurting the economy.

{mosads}“The federal government has responded to this crisis with systematic and aggressive measures to protect the financial security of the American people,” Bush stated. “These actions will take more time to have their full impact. But they are big enough and bold enough to work.”

Bush’s latest attempt to rally the public behind the plan comes at the tail end of a week that saw great volatility in the stock market at home and worldwide. The markets shot up Monday, after the Bush administration announced it would use a portion of the $700 billion rescue package to pump cash into banks, but the wild swings on Wall Street during the rest of the week showed that investors have not been swayed by Bush’s pleas that the plan would work.

“I know many Americans have reservations about the government's approach, especially about allowing the government to hold shares in private banks,” Bush said. “As a strong believer in free markets, I would oppose such measures under ordinary circumstances. But these are no ordinary circumstances.”

The president again stressed that the government would not exercise control over any private firm, nor will it sit in boardroom meetings. Banks are also encouraged to buy their shares back from the government when the markets stabilize and they can raise money from private investors, the president added.

While Bush was promoting the rescue effort, Democrats used their weekly radio address to blame his administration and Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) for getting the economy into the current crisis.

“My neighbors and yours are struggling in this economy,” Emanuel said. “They’re working as hard as they know how, but the economic policies that George Bush proposed and John McCain supports have left them working harder, paying more and making less.”

Emanuel stressed that Democrats are aiming to help the middle class, rather than a “few select investors,” and touted Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) tax plan

“Democrats know the middle class is struggling,” he stated. “That’s why Barack Obama and congressional Democrats want to target tax cuts to 95 percent of working Americans. We believe that the way to make even more Americans wealthy is to target our economic policies to the middle-class – the families who drive this economy.”

Emanuel added that “Democrats are working on a real recovery plan to turn this economy around and bring relief to families in need.”

Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress have said they hope to pass a second economic stimulus bill as soon as possible to help the economy get out of its slump.