Bush Signs: The World Holds its Breath

[unhappycamper]

Bush Signs: The World Holds its Breath
October 04, 2008
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - After two weeks of anguishing debate, Congress has passed and President Bush signed a massive plan to save the financial industry and the economy at large from an unthinkable free fall. Now, the world holds its breath, seeing if it will work.

Passage of the $700 billion financial rescue package came after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson at a meeting last month shocked congressional leaders into action by warning of pending economic collapse without immediate congressional intervention.

Paulson said after the climactic House vote Friday that he already had staff working out details and was lining up advisers from outside the government to get the money flowing.

The immediate response to the 263-171 vote was not promising. Wall Street, which plunged a record 778 points after the House initially rejected the bill last Monday, fell 157 points on Friday as more economic bad news, such as a jump in job losses, outweighed news that Congress was finally coming to the rescue.

Still, Bush and Congress made clear that the legislation was urgent and vital. "We have acted boldly to help prevent the crisis on Wall Street from becoming a crisis in communities across our country," Bush said after the House vote. He acknowledged that "our economy continues to face serious challenges."


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/bush-signs-the-world-holds-its-breath.html?col=1186032310810

[whistle]

1. British, Dutch and Spanish bankers just exhaled