Bush Signs Bank Rescue to End `Threat to Economy'

By Christopher Stern and Laura Litvan

Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President George W. Bush signed a $700 billion financial-market rescue plan into law, calling it a ``decisive action to ease the credit crunch that is now threatening our economy.''

The bipartisan legislation was sent yesterday to Bush after it was approved by the House, reversing its Sept. 29 rejection of the measure, which had sent global stock markets plunging. The bill, approved on Oct. 1 by the Senate with $149 billion in tax breaks to attract House votes, authorizes the government to buy troubled assets from financial institutions reeling from record home foreclosures. It also affirms regulators' power to suspend asset-valuing rules that companies blame for fueling the crisis.

``This was a difficult vote for many members of the House and Senate, but voting for it was the right choice for America's economy and for taxpayers like you,'' Bush said in his weekly radio address today. ``I appreciate their efforts to help stop the crisis in our financial markets from spreading to our entire economy.''

Bush Signs Bank Rescue to End `Threat to Economy'....