Bush implores House to pass amended bailout plan
The president says the credit freeze is hurting 'hard-working people.' Some House members who voted against the rescue package Monday now say they will vote yes when it is considered again Friday.
WASHINGTON — President Bush, warning that "a lot of people are watching," pleaded with the House of Representatives today to pass an amended $700-billion Wall Street rescue plan, scheduled to come to the floor Friday.
"This is an issue that is affecting hard-working people," Bush said at a White House event with a dozen manufacturing and retail business owners. "They are worried about their savings. They're worried about their jobs. They worried about their houses. They're worried about their small businesses."
Stunned by the House's rejection of the measure on Monday -- a 228-205 defeat that sent the stock market into free-fall -- the president said the credit freeze is affecting small businesses and the very lifeblood of American life.
"The bill that is before the House of Representatives tomorrow is the bill that has got the best chance of providing liquidity, providing credit, providing money," he said. "A lot of people are watching the House of Representatives now to determine whether or not they will be able to act positively."
The White House also upped the pressure on members of the House, which rejected the bill after an avalanche of calls to congressional offices overwhelmingly against what was perceived to be a bailout of Wall Street. Now, after a recess for the Jewish holidays that allowed many members of Congress to go home to their districts, many have returned with a new view that the credit crunch is hurting their hometown constituents.
A number of representatives who helped scuttle a $700-billion bailout of the financial system said today they are now going to support the revised plan, increasing its prospects for passage.
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), who voted against the bill earlier this week after his constituents overwhelmingly opposed it, said he decided to support it after returning home and seeing an economic storm cloud hanging over his district.
"It's not something that I feel really good about," he said in an interview, "but I think it is necessary." Kansas City, where Cleaver was once mayor, faces difficultly in selling bonds, he said, and the Ford plant in his district is struggling to sell cars.
"The public hates this, and what is being asked of members of Congress is to go against the people who sent you to Washington, and that's not easy," Cleaver said. But, he added, "I don't want my grandchildren or great-grandchildren to pick up a history book and find that I helped bring about a crash of the U.S. economy in 2008."
