WASHINGTON, DC (AFP) – United States President George W. Bush Friday signed a historic $ 700-billion Wall Street bailout but markets slumped as investors realized the bill would not be an instant fix for the broad financial crisis. The House of Representatives voted 263 to 171 to pass the largest US government economic intervention since the 1930s, after sparking market and political turmoil by rejecting an earlier version of the bailout on Monday. Following two weeks of high political drama, Democratic leaders credited White House nominee Barack Obama for helping to win over votes of wavering Democrats to end a political crisis which became a major test of leadership between him and Republican John McCain. "I am hopeful that we have gone a long way towards restoring confidence in our markets," said Democratic Senate Majority whip James Clyburn. Lawmakers said that the combination of stumbling stocks, which pulled down market-linked pension plans, and a credit freeze which had bitten deep into the day-to-day economy, had changed the political calculation since Monday. However, McCain called the bailout package a necessary "outrage" and vowed to clean up Wall Street if elected. "This rescue bill is not perfect, and it is an outrage that it’s even necessary," he said. "But we must stop the damage to our economy done by corrupt and incompetent practices on Wall Street and in Washington." Top House Republican John Boehner said that the version of the bailout passed by the House was superior to the original version requested by the Bush administration, which some critics described as a "blank check." "The passage of this flawed but necessary bill is not cause for celebration," he said, saying Congress had allowed sectors of the finance industry to "run amok." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi immediately signed the bailout package, which allows the US Treasury to buy up billions of dollars in bad mortgage debts choking the US economy, and sent it to Bush for his signature. And she paid tribute to Obama, who will take responsibility for the reeling economy if he manages to defeat McCain in the election on November 4. "I really want to commend Barack Obama," said Pelosi, a Democrat, adding that the Illinois senator had helped reassure lawmakers in tough reelection fights. "He really gave them confidence that this was the right thing to do," Pelosi said. Obama said while campaigning in Pennsylvania that he was glad "we finally got this dealt with" and called on the Treasury to carry out the plan in a way that "protects taxpayers" and helps avert further foreclosures. "I want those plans on tap quick so that we start getting some relief to homeowners out in neighborhoods," he said. Maryland Democratic Representatives Donna Edwards and Elijah Cummings said they had received calls from Obama after voting against the original package. "It meant a lot to me that somebody who at least has a 50-50 shot at being the next president of the United States would take time," Cummings said. The Senate passed a revised version of the bailout package 74-25 on Wednesday, including sweeteners on extending bank deposit insurance and expired tax breaks in order to get more House Republicans behind the legislation. The amended version of the plan is laced with $ 150 billion in tax breaks to coax reluctant lawmakers from both the Democratic and the Republican parties to get on board. American bipartisan legislators praised WACO, Texas (AFP) — US President George W. Bush on Saturday praised legislators from both major parties for approving the $ 700-billion financial system bailout package, but warned that relief would not be instant. The Senate approved the measure on Wednesday, while the House of Representatives approved the measure Friday, after rejecting a slightly different bill on Monday. Bush immediately signed it into law. In his weekly Saturday morning radio address, Bush acknowledged that it was a difficult vote for both Democratic and Republican legislators. "I appreciate their willingness to work across party lines in the midst of an election season," Bush said. The measure "provides the necessary tools to address the underlying problem in our financial system," the president said. Bush said that the final cost to taxpayers will be "much lower" than the $ 700-billion figure, because as time passes the value of the assets the government purchased "will likely go up in price." That means "that the government should eventually be able to recoup much, if not all, of the original expenditure," Bush said. The president however warned that relief would take time. "By taking all these steps, we can begin to put our economy on the road to recovery. While these efforts will be effective, they will also take time to implement. "My administration will move as quickly as possible, but the benefits of this package will not all be felt immediately. The federal government will undertake this rescue plan at a careful and deliberate pace to ensure that your tax dollars are spent wisely." Treasury Secretary Paulson pledges quick implementation WASHINGTON, DC (AFP) — Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson pledged to "move rapidly" to implement the plan to buy up assets distressed by the housing collapse, in the largest US government economic intervention since the 1930s Great Depression. "We will move rapidly to implement the new authorities, but we will also move methodically," Paulson said. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the country had taken "a critical step" in stabilizing markets and restoring credit flows. "The legislation is a critical step toward stabilizing our financial markets and ensuring an uninterrupted flow of credit to households and businesses," he said. But Wall Street lost ground after the approval, as credit markets remained frozen and details of the plan were unclear. Markets made a sharp reversal late in the day and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.50 percent to end at 10,325.38, capping a horrid week that saw blue chips slide more than seven percent.The tech-heavy Nasdaq slumped 1.48 percent and the broad-market Standard & Poor’s 500 index shed 1.35 percent. Global markets including Wall Street had rallied just before US lawmakers approved the rescue, but the mood soured after the measure was passed and signed by President George W. Bush. ‘The economy is still likely going to suffer and enter into a recession ... This bill may not be enough and it may already be too late," said John Ogg, an analyst at financial website 24/7 Wall Street. Peter Cohan of the consulting firm Peter Cohan & Associates said the plan leaves many questions unanswered. "I think that unless the Treasury can solve the thorny problem of setting a price for the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), then it will fail to solve the real economic problem — which is a lack of trust in the financial system," he said. The London FTSE 100 index jumped 2.26 percent at the close, Paris won 2.96 percent, and Frankfurt rose 2.41 percent. All three markets had shed about two percent in value on Thursday. The global banking sector remained in turmoil. In the United States, Wells Fargo stepped in with a $ 15-billion scheme to buy Wachovia, the fourth largest US bank by assets, ending a government-backed plan for Citigroup to take over Wachovia’s banking operations. But shortly after the announcement, US regulators said they had not yet reviewed the deal and Citigroup said the Wachovia was in "breach" of its earlier agreement and that Wells Fargo’s conduct constituted "tortious interference" with Citi’s agreement. In Europe, Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme said Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis was being broken up, with the Dutch government buying most of its activities in the Netherlands for 16.8 billion euros ($ 23.5 billion) Swiss banking giant UBS, which has been forced to write down over $ 42.5 billion worth of assets since the US mortgage market soured last year, said it would cut 2,000 more jobs as it revamps its battered investment bank unit. The leaders of Britain, France, Germany, and Italy — Europe’s major economies — were meanwhile preparing to meet Saturday in Paris to discuss the global turmoil, with Germany dismissing calls for a joint European fund to bail out failing banks. The European Central Bank made available another $ 50 billion (36 billion euros) to commercial banks in short-term funds in what has become a regular effort to keep cash flowing on interbank money markets, where banks have been reluctant to lend. The Bank of Japan said it injected 800 billion yen ($ 7.6 billion) into the financial system in the 13th straight day of attempts to keep cash flowing.