[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 53 (Monday, January 7, 2008)]
[Pages 1647-1648]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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 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

[[Page 1648]]

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.