Jenga! Economy Edition

Our economy is inches away from game over, but here's the stabilizer: President Bush is finally acknowledging that there's a problem.

After numerous press conferences during which Bush used every combination of words that exists in the human language to say "The fundamentals of our economy are sound," he is at last admitting what every American has been feeling in the pits of their stomachs over the past month: Very little about our economy is sound.

Last night, Bush stood in front of America and said, "Our entire economy is in danger."

I can only imagine how difficult it must be for a president to admit to his country that he was wrong, which is essentially what Bush did in this address.

Throughout his presidency, Bush has strongly opposed government intervention in free enterprise. He said he still believes in free enterprise and allowing businesses to thrive or fail based on their own practices, but he explained that "these are not normal times."

I know many people are divided on the issue of this bailout, and with good reason -- $700 billion is more money than most people can visualize after hours of concentration -- but Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has taken a line of reasoning that I think everyone should adopt in this crisis:

"Whatever you think about whether or not there was a need [for a bailout] . . . once the president, secretary of the Treasury and chairman of the Federal Reserve have announced that if you don't do this, there will be a collapse, there's probably going to be a collapse if you don't do it."

But the bottom line in this situation rests within just a few sentences of Bush's address:

"This rescue effort is not aimed at preserving any individual company or industry. It is aimed at preserving America's overall economy. It will help American consumers and businesses get credit to meet their daily needs and create jobs. And it will help send a signal to markets around the world that America's financial system is back on track."

And I think that's a goal we can all agree on.