'Extraordinary response' necessary, Bush says

Calling the $700 billion government bailout an “extraordinary response to an extraordinary crisis,” President Bush today said that it is “going to take awhile” for the initiative to thaw the frozen credit markets. “These are decisive measures aimed at the heart of our financial challenges,” he said in a speech before business leaders at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington. “They're big enough and bold enough to work, and the American people can be confident that they will.” Mr. Bush tried to quell the fears of Americans over the extent of government intervention in the financial markets. “The government intervention is not a government takeover — its purpose is not to weaken the free market, it is to preserve the free market,” he said. Had the bailout package not been implemented, families and businesses would have had an “even tougher time” getting loans, and the government would have been forced to respond with even more drastic and costly measures later on, Mr. Bush said.