December 17, 2007
President Bush Discusses Economy in Fredericksburg, Virginia Holiday Inn
North Fredericksburg, Virginia
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“But they need to fund these troops, and they don’t need to be putting artificial timetable for withdrawal on the money that we’re asking to make sure the men and women who courageously serve the United States of America have what it takes to do the job they’ve been asked to do.”
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“If the Congress can’t get the job done — in other words, those jet fumes will start to be moving out pretty soon here, later on this week — if they can’t get the job done, then I’ve got a suggestion for them: just pass a one-year continuing resolution.”
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“Here’s my attitude on housing: one, the government should never bail out lenders; two, some people bought a house that they shouldn’t have been in the market; three, there are speculators who thought they could get — buy nice, one of these reset mortgages and flip it, make some money — I’m sure none of them are in the chamber, but nevertheless — (laughter) — that’s what happened.”
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“Well, this day and age you’re going to use — mortgages have been bundled, so the savings and loan doesn’t own the mortgage anymore, or the bank doesn’t loan [sic] the mortgage anymore, the local lending institute doesn’t loan [sic] the mortgage anymore: it’s owned by some international group, perhaps, or it’s been bundled into an asset. And so there’s hardly anybody to negotiate with. And so some lenders [sic] aren’t sure where to turn.”
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“Part of the problem in health care is that there is no consumerism — I shouldn’t say “no consumerism,” obviously there is some consumerism.”
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“I don’t know how many of you ever go to your doctor and say, what are you charging, you know, compared to your neighbor. I suspect you do that when it comes an automobile, but you don’t when it comes to purchasing health care. I never have, frankly. I don’t remember asking my buddies in Midland, who are my doctors, how much are you charging relative to the person down the street.”
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“We’re in the lead when it comes to the Freedom Agenda.”
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“And so one of the proposals I put forth to the Congress was, as we shut down bases, through the BRAC process, why don’t we provide land on those old bases for refineries to encourage the expansion of refineries here in the United States. And it’s just — anyway, it’s — there are some who — I don’t know why they wouldn’t be for something as commonsensical as that.”
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“So we’ve got the technologies capable of finding oil and gas reserves and hardly leaving a scratch on the environment up there. But it’s become a cause celebre with a lot of the special interests in Washington, D.C.”
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“Automobile — I just told you that we’re going to become more efficient with our automobile — we’re raising our fuel efficiency standards. In other words, cars and new technology and electricity are going to change how often people go to the pump.”
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“My question is, I have three children in the school system here, and I’m very concerned about their well-being, living in this country — and you’ve done a wonderful job of protecting our nation. But I’m concerned about the nations like Iraq, who now have nuclear weapons –
THE PRESIDENT: Iran.
Q Iran and Iraq both.
THE PRESIDENT: Not Iraq. (Laughter.)
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“The ability to weaponize that material — in other words, to make it into something that explodes — that part of the program is what the intelligence people thought was ongoing at one time and suspended.”
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“So you can envision if you can start using wood chips — you got you some wood around here, and all of a sudden it becomes a viable source of input into an ethanol plant.”
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“But it’s making pretty good market penetration in the Midwest. It’s an interesting — we have to look at, and I believe the reason why is because — since corn is now the main source of ethanol, that’s where you’re going to get your corn.”
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Q Hi, Mr. President, I’m Kate (inaudible), and I wanted to extend my holiday wishes to you and your family from all of our family.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, thank you. I’m fired up about the holidays.
