Bush: It Will Take Some Time To Restore Confidence In Financial System

October 6, 2008 2:13 p.m. EST

San Antonio, TX (AHN) - President Georg W. Bush assured small business owners in Texas on Monday that the financial rescue package he signed into law last week would help ease credit problems but would also take time before it will be implemented.

"It's going to take a while to get in place a program that, one, is effective; two, that doesn't waste taxpayers' money - we don't want to rush into this situation and not have the program be effective," Bush said. "It's going to take a while to restore confidence in the financial system. But one thing people can be certain of is that the bill I signed is a big step toward solving this problem."

"A lot of people here in Texas and around the country are not pleased with the government having to take the steps they took. Their question is, I pay my bills, I pay my mortgage, why -- why are you helping Wall Street. And the answer is because had we not done anything, people like the folks behind me would be a lot worse off," the President added.

The Dow Jones fell below 10,000 mark for the first time in four years on Monday. And the Federal Reserve announced that it was doubling its emergency loan program to commercial banks to $900 billion.

Bush signed the $700 billion legislation to rescue the nation's financial markets over the weekend, after grueling weeks of negotiations between Democrats and Republicans, and a failed House vote that caused a $1.2 trillion in losses in the stock market.