CRAWFORD, Texas — President Bush, defending his record and his rhetoric, said Saturday that his administration has been “clear and candid” about the nation’s economy.
“We saw the economic slowdown coming, we were upfront about these concerns with the American people, and we’ve been taking decisive action,” Bush said in his weekly radio address.
The president’s comments appeared at least partly in response to a drumbeat of criticism from Democratic leaders, who say his view of the economy is rosy and unrealistic. Bush sounded an upbeat tone after a modest uptick of economic news last week.
The economy grew in the first quarter of the year, but only by a meager 0.6 percent. Yet it was not the contraction that some analysts feared. Employers slashed fewer jobs in April than they had in earlier months. The unemployment rate in April also fell slightly.
“No temporary setbacks can hold back the most powerful force in our economy — the ingenuity of the American people,” Bush said.
Bush used the bulk of his weekly radio platform to pressure Congress, once again, into approving legislation he says would help the sluggish economy rebound. Among his agenda for lawmakers: make permanent his first-term tax cuts, which are due to expire in 2010; allow drilling for oil in northern Alaska and encourage more oil-refining capacity; and modernize the Federal Housing Administration to allow some additional homeowners to refinance from subprime loans into government-backed mortgages.
