WASHINGTON — This is hardly the way he wanted to go out.
President George W. Bush found few encouraging things to say Tuesday as he assessed a grinding list of problems for his final six months in the White House.
It runs from soaring gas prices, falling home values and anxieties about bank safety to un-won wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, genocide in Sudan and friction with Moscow and Beijing.
He bounded onstage for a news conference in the White House press briefing room with a smile and a quick good morning, but the next words out of his mouth were a recognition of pocketbook anxieties.
"Its been a difficult time for many American families who are coping with declining housing values and high gasoline prices," the president said.
Over the next 42 minutes Bush repeatedly found fault with the country’s direction and the government’s failure to solve problems in the 7.5 years that he has been in office.
He said Americans were "rightly concerned" about gas and home prices, that "there’s a lot of nervousness" about the stability of banks, that the economy is "not as good as we’d like" and there is "no short-term solution" to the energy problem.
He blamed the Democratic Congress for failing to deal with the issues.
On the bright side, Bush said the banking system is "basically is sound" and the administration has taken steps to help stabilize housing and financial markets and increase confidence in mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
He urged Congress to quickly pass legislation to prop up both institutions.
The president tried to reassure people who are alarmed by pictures of anxious depositors lined up outside troubled banks.
"Take a deep breath," he said, because deposits are insured by the government up to $100,000.
As of Tuesday, Bush had 189 days before he walks out of the Oval Office for the last time. His term is ending with Americans on edge, the mood of the country sour.
Just 16 per cent said the U.S. is moving in the right direction in an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Tuesday.
That’s the lowest reading of public sentiment since the poll started in December 2003. Bush’s approval was at 28 per cent, which ties the all-time low he hit in AP-Ipsos polling in April.
When a reporter reminded him of an embarrassing moment in February, when he said he hadn’t heard forecasts of $4-a-gallon gasoline, Bush interrupted to say: "Aware of it now."
He called on Congress to follow his example and lift a ban on offshore drilling to help increase domestic oil production.
"I readily concede . . . it’s not going to produce a barrel of oil tomorrow, but it is going to change the psychology that demand will constantly outstrip supply," the president said.
Sensitive to his portrayal as a lame duck, Bush said: "People say, ‘Aw, man, you’re running out of time, nothing is going to happen.’ I’ll remind people what did happen."
He pointed to recent congressional approval of a bill to broaden the government’s eavesdropping power and a war-funding bill that increases college aid for military service members and veterans who served after Sept. 11, 2001.
He said Congress should pass legislation dealing with housing, energy and trade.
