[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

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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.