Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The Obama administration is promising an aggressive effort to combat the worst financial crisis in seven decades, unveiling a program that could mobilize well over $1 trillion in public and private support to get the frozen credit markets functioning again.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the new plan would bring the full force of the federal government to bear in a partnership with the private sector.

Geithner said that at the moment "critical parts of our financial system are damaged."

The new plan would greatly expand an effort to unclog credit markets that provide loans to consumer and businesses, mobilizing as much as $1 trillion for that effort. It would also create a partnership with the private sector to get bad assets off the books of banks.