by Calculated Risk on 9/24/2008 09:32:00 PM

From the WSJ: Bush Addresses Bailout Plan

President George W. Bush on Wednesday warned Americans and legislators reluctant to pass a historic financial rescue plan that failing to act fast risks wiping out retirement savings, rising foreclosures, lost jobs, closed business and "a long and painful recession."

From the NY Times: President Issues Warning to Americans

From the WaPo: Bush: 'Our Entire Economy Is in Danger'

Bush painted a grim picture view of the future if Congress doesn't act, but he really didn't address how the plan would work. Bush did comment that the plan was to buy assets "at the current low price", seemingly contradicting the comments from Bernanke and Paulson earlier today that they would buy at above the current "fire sale" prices.

I'm not sure if this speech will motivate people to call their representatives, but it might motivate people that haven't been paying attention to say: "Wow, this is bad. Let's make sure our money is safe, and watch our expenditures." And that could lead to a deeper recession.