What Bush Left Out

"One senior administration official, not authorized to speak on the record, noted that many members of Congress are 'getting a lot of negative feedback' about the Bush plan. 'A lot of members have said, "We need some help convincing the American people that there is a crisis and we need this extraordinary action," ' this official said. 'If not the president, who's going to do it?' "

Where's the Leadership?

The New York Times editorial board writes: "It took President Bush until Wednesday night to address the American people about the nation's financial crisis, and pretty much all he had to offer was fear itself.

"There was no acknowledgement of the shocking failure of government regulation, or that the country cannot afford more tax cuts for the very wealthy and budget-busting wars, or that spending at least $700 billion of taxpayers' money to bail out Wall Street and the banks should be done carefully, transparently and with oversight by Congress and the courts.

"We understand why he may have been reluctant to address the nation, since his contempt for regulation is a significant cause of the current mess. But he could have offered a great deal more than an eerily dispassionate primer on the credit markets in which he took no responsibility at all for the financial debacle."

Gail Collins writes in her New York Times opinion column: "How do you think the besieged financial community felt when the White House announced that George W. Bush was going to address the nation on television Wednesday night?

"Hopeful? Terrified?

"'We are in the midst of a serious financial crisis,' the president said, reading his lines flatly and stolidly, like an announcer delivering a long public-service message about new parking regulations for the holiday season. . . .

"There is, in a way, a kind of talent required to tell the nation that it's teetering on the brink of disaster in a way that makes the viewers' attention wander. Bush's explanation about how the rescue bill would unclog the lines of credit made the whole thing sound less important than a Liquid-Plumr commercial."

Still Doubting

Stan Collender blogs: "How does a lame duck president with little or no credibility on economic issues and overall very low job approval ratings make a nationwide speech that dramatically changes public opinion on the Paulson Plan?

"How does a president with few rhetorical skills find the words and delivery to be convincing to a skeptical nation?

"How does a president with little credibility on economic issues rescue the plan proposed by the one person in his administration who has some credibility on economic issues?"

Short answer: He doesn't.