    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [January 4, 2008]
    [Pages 18-19]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Meeting With the President's Working Group on
    Financial Markets
    January 4, 2008

        I just had a fascinating and productive meeting with the President's
    Working Group on Financial Markets, chaired by Secretary
    Paulson. I want to thank the members
    for working diligently to monitor our capital market system, our
    financial system. And while there is some uncertainty, the report is, is
    that the financial markets are strong and solid. And I want to thank you
    for being diligent.
        This economy of ours is on a solid foundation, but we can't take
    economic growth for granted. And there are signs that will cause us to
    be ever more diligent and to make sure that good policies come out of
    Washington. For example, we've had 52 straight months of job creation,
    but job growth slowed last month. The core inflation is low, but U.S.
    consumers are paying more for gasoline and for food. The consumer
    spending is strong, yet the values on many of the homes in America are
    beginning to decline and--which leads me to say to the American people:
    For those of you who are paying more and are worried about your home, we
    understand that. That's why we have an aggressive policy to help
    creditworthy people stay in their homes.
        The Congress and the President have got to work together when they
    come back to, one, make sure taxes remain low. If there are--if the
    foundation is strong yet indicators are mixed, the worst thing that
    Congress could do is raise taxes on the American people and on American
    businesses. Secondly, we have got to understand that if we are worried
    about gasoline prices, we

    [[Page 19]]

    ought to expand refineries here in the United States, and we ought to
    explore for oil and gas in environmentally friendly ways in the United
    States. As I mentioned, the Secretary
    and Secretary Jackson are leading an
    initiative on housing called HOPE NOW, but there's legislation that can
    be passed to make it easier for people to refinance their homes.
        And so when Congress comes back, I look forward to working with them
    to deal with the economic realities of the moment and to assure the
    American people that we will do everything we can to make sure we remain
    a prosperous country.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:47 p.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the
    White House.