Bush: 'Our economy is in danger'
Updated on 25 September 2008
As the US presidential candidates argue over Friday's televised debate, President Bush urges congress to respond quickly to the financial crisis.
The United States faces "a long and painful recession" unless congress acts quickly to support a $700bn rescue plan, President Bush said last night.
Addressing the American people on prime-time TV, he warned that "Our entire economy is in danger" and predicted a "distressing scenario" without the proposed bailout.
The president also invited presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama to the White House to discuss the rescue package.
The speech came after it emerged that Democratic US presidential candidate Barack Obama had turned down John McCain's call for a postponement of Friday's first televised presidential debate so that Democratic and Republican nominees could focus on the financial turmoil in the United States.
In rejecting any attempt to defer the debate, on foreign policy, Obama said American voters needed to hear the candidates' views "now more than ever".
He went on to call on McCain to join him in issuing a statement outlining their conditions for support of the $7000bn bailout package sent to congress by the Bush administration.
A McCain spokesman has said that in the present situation the Republican campaign is suspending all political activities, including fund-raising and advertising.
The bailout package has met with resistance on Capitol Hill, with commentators suggesting it may have to be scaled down in order to win bipartisan support.
