Bush's Financial Katrina

"Some critics have accused him of being in a state of denial over the severity of the problem, which started last year with an imploding U.S. housing market and quickly spread to credit markets and the broader U.S. and global economy. . . .

"The White House defends Bush's approach. 'The president gets regularly updated,' White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. 'And the president is extremely concerned.'"

Frederick Kempe writes in his Bloomberg opinion column: "The cost of faltering American leadership is growing as quickly as you can say Bear Stearns. . . .

"Much of what we are watching feels like an emerging-market meltdown to top international financiers: runaway debt, a declining currency, imploding markets, failing political leadership and the urgent need for outside intervention to provide emergency stability. . . .

"International financiers . . . fault George W. Bush for having failed to realize that he has another Katrina on his hands, this time of a financial nature, for which private-sector solutions are useful but not sufficient to keep the levees in place. They believe he has to deploy greater government means to send a message to the financial world that he is drawing a line in the sand. . . .

"As with the war in Afghanistan, the Iraqi war aftermath, the Hurricane Katrina disaster and current efforts at Mideast peace, investors are concerned that the president is responding too late and with inadequate understanding, resources and creativity."

Leaving the Less Fortunate Stranded -- Again

Meanwhile, Steven Lee Myers writes in the New York Times: "President Bush on Monday welcomed the Federal Reserve's sweeping intervention in the nation's financial markets as his administration faced accusations that it had supported the bailout of a prestigious investment bank while doing little to address the hardships of Americans facing foreclosures on their homes. . . .

"Mr. Bush's handling of the economy has vaulted to the top of the political agenda, where the White House would clearly it rather not be. He stood accused on one hand of violating his own ideological opposition to government intervention and on the other of not doing enough to protect the nation's economy from the disarray in the markets.

"'Now that the president has shown his willingness to bail out Wall Street at taxpayer expense, I hope he will drop his opposition to proposals designed to help ordinary homeowners,' Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada and the majority leader, said in a statement."

Scott Mayerowitz writes for ABC News: "Some critics have questioned why the government is using taxpayer dollars to bail out Wall Street titans, like Bear Stearns, while thousands of Americans struggle to stave off housing foreclosure and receive nothing.

"According to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, corporations have received $230 billion in federal aid compared to nothing for homeowners. . . .

"Robert Brusca, chief economist at Fact and Opinion Economics, thinks the president hasn't gone far enough.