Bush to combat investor crisis with economic forum
By Adam Entous
WASHINGTON, July 26 (Reuters) - The White House said on Friday President George W. Bush will convene an economic forum in August, part of a pre-election push to shore up confidence in his handling of the U.S. economy after a wave of accounting scandals sent the stock market plunging.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the Aug. 13 forum in Waco, Texas, will bring together government policymakers, economists, small investors, business owners and union leaders "to discuss the fundamentals of the American economy and to talk about the president's agenda to increase growth for the future."
But the event falls short of the bipartisan economic summit that Democrats have sought to boost growth, combat corporate corruption and improve investor sentiment in hard-hit U.S. financial markets. The White House will decide who participates in the event, and has made clear that Democratic leaders in Congress will not be on the list.
With their leaders excluded, Democrats said the forum would do little to boost investor confidence.
"I'm sure it will be a nice event," said Kori Bernards, a spokeswoman for House of Representatives Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, a Missouri Democrat. "But what we need is a serious economic summit in which Democrats and Republicans sit down and come up with a plan to get this economy back on track."
Bush's forum will take place ahead of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Aug. 14 deadline for the largest publicly traded U.S. companies to certify their most recent annual reports and subsequent quarterly reports. Administration officials have sought to play down fears that the deadline will prompt a flood of earnings restatements.
"One of the things the American people are looking for from corporate America is honesty, accountability and certainty. And that deadline set by the Securities and Exchange Commission will help deliver that," Fleischer said.
BUSH UNDER FIRE
Bush and his Republican allies in Congress are under fire from Democrats for their response to accounting scandals that have eroded investor confidence and fueled a sharp drop in stocks.
With polls showing his public standing being threatened for the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush has embraced legislation that would increase oversight of auditors and impose tougher penalties for corporate misconduct. Bush is expected to sign the bill into law early next week.
Fleischer said he expected at least six members of Bush's Cabinet to attend next month's economic forum as part of a broader effort by Bush and his top advisers to shore up confidence in his economic stewardship.
The forum, Fleischer said, will focus on Bush's pending economic proposals, including bills that would boost his ability to negotiate new trade pacts and make the government a backstop for insurers in the event of another terrorist attack. Bush also will press for passage of Republican-backed pension protections for workers.
"There are still many items left pending in the Congress that can help give the economy even a stronger boost than it's currently receiving," Fleischer said.
He said participants also may look at "new ideas" to boost the economy. White House budget director Mitch Daniels said on Wednesday that Bush will consider new measures to increase growth if the economy takes a turn for the worse. Some Republicans and business groups favor a capital-gains tax cut to encourage investors to get back into the stock market.
Bush is under pressure from fellow Republicans to respond more aggressively to the nation's economic woes.
If public confidence in the economy continues to waver in the run-up to the November congressional elections, analysts said it would be a huge boost for Democrats, who blame the reemergence of deficits on Bush's $1.35 trillion tax cut.
Republicans counter that the tax cut helped the United States recover from the twin shocks of a recession and the Sept. 11 attacks. They blame a surge in government spending advocated by Democrats, not lower taxes, for the red ink. |
