Am I the only one who isn't particularly shook by this economic "crisis"?  I see it as the inevitable consequence of an economy that has been surviving on credit for too long.  We will recover when the bad credit risks are purged, and we return to the fundamentals that have historically sustained our economy - living within our means, and not extending credit to those won't can't - or won't - pay their bills.

To get a mortgage you'll have to do it the old-fashioned way:  have a job, a history of paying your debts, and 20% down!  The down payment  is a natural brake on buying more house than you can afford.  If you can come up with $30K for a $150K home, but not $60K for a  $300K home,  that's  nature's way  of  saying you can't afford the more expensive house. Unlike the last few years where folks who couldn't afford the former, where getting 100% financing for the latter.   When enough of those folks couldn't pay their mortgages, and the financial system collapsed, why is anyone surprised.

In Wal-Mart recently, a man was overheard on his cell phone demanding that his credit card company increase his maxed-out limit by $1400, so he could buy the giant-screen TV he was admiring.   Explain to me again why  $700 billion of our taxes have to go to keep the credit markets available.  Without credit he'll have to either save up to buy that giant-screen, or do without -  the old-fashioned way!

If $700 billion, to keep the credit flowing, is needed to avoid the impact of reduced consumer spending, that's proof the economy is too dependent on borrowed money - and vulnerable to the problems we're now experiencing.   Our economy is as addicted to easy credit, as it is to OPEC oil -  both are recipes for disaster.  The answer to the adverse impact of dependence on foreign oil is to use less oil.  The answer to an economy  faltering from dependence on credit is to use less.  Spending $700 billion to make more credit available is like spending the same for more foreign oil - it will only aggravate the problem!

This bailout is counterintuitive to me. You don't put out a fire by throwing on more fuel.  Why not let this "crisis" work itself out by burning out the bad credit detritus.  Like a forest following a wild-fire, after it passes what's left is healthy and thrives.