President Bush Talks about Economy

7/15/2008 Washington D.C. On the same day the government announced weaker than expected retail sales and inflation rates soaring at the fastest rate in 25 years, President Bush held a wide ranging news conference where he laid out the steps he's taking to stabilize the nation's economy. "The economy's growing, productivity's high, trade's up, people are working. It's not as good as we'd like and to the extent that we find weakness, we'll move. That's one thing about this administration: we're not afraid of making tough decisions," said Bush.

The President also pressed Congress to take quick action to help struggling mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Yesterday the President lifted the White House ban on offshore oil drilling, and Tuesday morning the President, once again, urged lawmakers to lift the congressional ban saying the move would lessen the nation's dependency on foreign oil and potentially bring down rising energy prices. "The sooner Congress lifts the ban the sooner we can get these resources from the ocean floor to the refineries, to the gas pump."

The President also addressed increased violence in Afghanistan, promising the U.S. will add more troops there if needed and said the surge in Iraq has dramatically reduced violence in that country. "Both these fronts are important to the success of our country and we've got to succeed in both."

Tuesday morning's news conference comes with record low approval ratings for the President. According to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, just 28% percent of Americans approve of how President Bush is handling his job; matching Jimmy Carter's career low.