US presidential candidates to meet Bush over economic crisis

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Barack Obama and John McCain, in a show of unity over the economic crisis, will both attend a meeting Thursday with President George W. Bush to discuss a proposed bailout even as they clashed on whether the crisis should delay their first debate. The meeting, called by Bush and also to be attended by key congressional leaders, was expected to address a $700 billion plan the administration has proposed to bail out a struggling financial industry. In a joint statement Thursday, the two candidates called the proposal flawed but said the effort to protect the US economy must not fail. The plan, without which Bush warned the US may fall into "a long and painful recession," has met with stiff Congressional opposition from both Democrats and members of Bush's own party, the Republicans. In a surprise announcement Wednesday, McCain called for the candidates' first debate - slated to be held Friday in Mississippi - to be delayed in order to address the financial crisis. Obama, who seemed taken aback by McCain's suggestion, rejected the call for a delay, saying that whoever wins the Nov. 4 election would be required "to deal with more than one thing at once."