‘We Are Acting Aggressively,’ Bush Says
President George W. Bush has sought to reassure a nervous American electorate that his administration has taken aggressive action to restore stability to financial markets.
Bush delivered a 10-minute address to the nation in the grounds of the White House.
- Listen to Bush (8m)
Transcript of President Bush’s remarks on the financial crisis.
Good morning. Over the past few days, we have witnessed a startling drop in the stock market — much of it driven by uncertainty and fear. This has been a deeply unsettling period for the American people. Many of our citizens have serious concerns about their retirement accounts, their investments, and their economic well-being. [Read more…]
Political Quotations – Set 2
- Every society honors its live conformists and its dead troublemakers. – Mignon McLaughlin, author.
- When we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves. – Confucius (551-479 BC).
- At the end of a long and probably very boring meal (at a formal dinner), (British Prime Minister) Macmillan turned to Madame de Gaulle and asked politely what she was looking forward to in her retirement. Quick as a flash the elderly lady replied: “A penis.” Macmillan had been trained all his life never to appear shocked, but even he was a bit taken aback. After drawling out a series of polite platitudes, – “Well, I can see your point of view, don’t have much time for that sort of thing nowadays” – it gradually dawned on him to his intense relief that what the old girl had actually said was “happiness.” – Paul Foot, in the essay A New Definition: The Quality of Life, British Medical Journal, VOLUME 321, DECEMBER 2000.
- The moral test of a government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life — the children; the twilight of life — the elderly; and the shadows of life — the sick, the needy and the handicapped. – Hubert Humphrey, Vice-President of the United States 1965-69.
- When I joined the Labor Party, it contained the cream of the working class. But as I look about me now, all I see are the dregs of the middle class. When will you middle class perverts stop using the Labor Party as a cultural spittoon? – Kim Beazley Snr to an ALP State Conference, circa 1970.
Bush Announces Withdrawal Of 20,000 Troops From Iraq; No Timeline For Remainder
President George W. Bush has announced that 20,000 US combat troops will be withdrawn from Iraq, commencing this month.
Delivering a televised address from the White House, Bush made no mention of when the remaining American forces would be withdrawn.
The occupation force will still be larger than it was before the troop “surge” earlier this year.
Bush said that the role of the US troops would shift from patrolling Iraqi neighborhoods to providing support for Iraqi troops. The American force would turn its attention to hunting down Al Qaeda terrorists, he said. [Read more…]
Democrats Say Bush Failed To Provide Plans For Future Of Iraq
President Bush “failed to provide either a plan to successfully end the war or a convincing rationale to continue it”, according to Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed.
Delivering the Democratic Party response to Bush’s address, Reed said “an endless and unlimited military presence in Iraq is not an option”. [Read more…]
APEC: John Howard and George Bush Joint Press Conference
The United States President, George W. Bush, held a joint press conference with the Prime Minister, John Howard, in Sydney today.
The press conference followed Bush’s arrival in Australia last night, ahead of the APEC meeting at the end of the week. [Read more…]