White House goes mum on financial crisis
The White House was tight-lipped Tuesday on the financial calamity gripping the global economy, just a day after President Obama vowed to "stay on it until we get the job done," inciting new criticism of the president for failing to seize the issue that will define his re-election campaign.
Obama remained on the sidelines even as markets rebounded from a historic collapse, canceling an economic event in Springfield and the daily press briefing with reporters.
Instead, Obama made an unexpected trip to Dover, Del., to view the return of 30 U.S. servicemen killed in Afghanistan.
But the hush from the White House stood out to those repeatedly reminded of the president's assertion that he can "walk and chew gum at the same time."
"Quite frankly, a lot of us are happy they just shut up," said veteran Republican strategist Mark Corallo. "Clearly, the president's [Monday] address was a disaster. The markets look for signs of leadership. They didn't find it."
Despite the president's attempt to assure the public of the strength of the American economy Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 635 points, the steepest decline since 2008.
However, U.S. stock markets closed much higher on Tuesday when the Federal Reserve announced it would keep interest rates low until mid-2013. The Dow jumped 430 points, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.8 percent.
The results called into question whether the president maintains any influence on the market volatility sweeping across Europe and reverberating back to U.S. investors. Regardless, the White House was on the receiving end of a bipartisan tongue-lashing for failing to act more forcefully.
"Even if we didn't do something, the president should call us back," Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., told MSNBC, mirroring a call made by Minnesota congresswoman and Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann. "People want to believe. We have given them no reason to believe."
Administration officials responded that it was irrelevant how often lawmakers convened but more important that they strike a compromise around which both sides could unite.
Lawmakers are on summer recess and are using the break to meet with constituents in their home districts.
The credit-rating firm Standard & Poor's on Friday downgraded the nation's credit rating from AAA to AA+, igniting concerns about interest rates for consumers already suffering economic anxiety.
In his speech Monday, the president said he would release a debt plan in coming weeks but failed to articulate exactly what it would include. Obama has yet to release a jobs plan even though the unemployment rate continues to hover above 9 percent.
Republicans, meanwhile, are drawing parallels to a one-term Democratic president who was ultimately undone by economic uncertainty surrounding his stint in office.
"I really hope President Carter, I mean Obama, can come up with a solution to the economy and the markets," Ari Fleischer, press secretary for President George W. Bush, said mockingly on his Twitter account.
