THE TROUBLED STATE OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMY -- (House of Representatives - September 17, 2008)
Mr. HALL of New York. Mr. Speaker, the last few days have clearly demonstrated that the troubled state that our economy is in is more serious than we thought. The Bush administration's mismanagement of the American economy has officially caused a housing crisis to snowball and jeopardize the entire economy.
Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, established companies that survived the Great Depression, have declared bankruptcy or have been sold off to survive. Both companies employ thousands of people from my district, the 19th District of New York, and no one seems to know what will happen to these workers or to their families.
But it's not just Wall Street suffering. Wages have stagnated; expenses continue to rise. American families can no longer afford to buy necessities, much less to invest in the future.
Mr. Speaker, when President Bush took office 8 years ago, he inherited a flourishing economy and a record budget surplus. Now, as he leaves office 8 years later with 8 years of misrule and a lack of oversight, those days are clearly gone.
I hope we make the right choice for our next President and elect Barack Obama, who will understand how to deal with the complexities of our economic situation.