Chavez in Bush's head??

RT News 8 oct 08



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Hugo Chavez (AFP Photo / Thomas Coex)
October 8, 2008, 19:25
Chavez names ‘Comrade Bush’ a socialist
George Bush has been the target of fresh jibes by Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez for doing exactly what he was criticising the socialist leader for – overriding market laws to protect the economy.
Critics say the U.S. bailout plan is an example of a double standard by the Bush administration, reports America’s McClatchy newspaper.

"If the Venezuelan government, for example, approves a law to protect consumers, they say, 'Take notice, Chavez is a tyrant!'" said Chavez, speaking in one of his recent weekly television shows.

"Or they say, 'Chavez is regulating prices. He is violating the laws of the marketplace.' How many times have they criticised me for nationalising the phone company? They say, 'The state shouldn't get involved in that.' But now they don't criticize Bush for having to nationalise (the biggest banks in the world.) Comrade Bush, how are you?"

Warming to his theme, he added: "Comrade Bush is heading toward socialism."

Nicaragua Congressman Edwin Castro agreed: "We think the Bush administration should follow the same policies that they and the International Monetary Fund have always told us to follow when we have economic problems — a structural adjustment that requires cutting government spending and reducing the role of government.”

Meanwhile, Bush said the bailout plan, that will see $700 billion of government money used to buy toxic mortgages, was necessary, although he said it stood against his personal philosophy.
Bush gets his multi-billion-dollar injection



NEW YORK TIMES
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS and MARK LANDLER
Published: October 9, 2008
WASHINGTON — Having tried without success to unlock frozen credit markets, the Treasury Department is considering taking ownership stakes in many United States banks to try to restore confidence in the financial system, the White House said on Thursday.

Acknowledging that such steps would not seem to fit into President Bush’s free-market philosophy, the president’s chief spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said taking partial ownership of banks and other moves associated with the financial rescue plan would not be “part of his natural instincts.”
“But when presented with the evidence that the financial crisis about to hit the United States would affect every single American up and down the economic food chain, this president decided that it was important that the government take robust action. That’s why we worked with Congress to establish the rescue package.”
Ms. Perino said the “capital injections” into the banks would involve “an equity stake” for the federal government but would not amount to a takeover.
“Secretary Paulson is looking at all the different tools to figure out which ones should be used at what time and how robustly and how much money to put into each,” Ms. Perino said, referring to Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. ……..