We will pay the piper but who's playing the tune?

I say no bailout unless Main Street gets bailed out too. Cancel all the debts held by the campesinos- cancel Main Streets debts in their entirety.

There is a difference of opinion concerning becoming pen-pals with ones Congress critter. Some people say that your letter goes straight into the trash. Some people think constituents letters do some good.
I know for a fact that if a politician receives thousands of letters on a particular issue in a short time frame, he takes note and often will change his position- he cannot afford to lose several thousand votes in the next election.

If Americans had only scrapped the calluses off their butts and took the time to become informed and then active, the current crisis would not be erupting right now.
Nixon ending the last vestige of the Gold Standard in 1971, and the subsequent unleashing of the derivative speculative bubble followed....leading us to today.

Spending money that doesn't exist has ever been a sound policy for any nation or individual. Common sense does not exist in our economy.

Update: the bailout failed in the House. Market reaction was predictable: the DOW measured a 777 point loss- the highest in history. The bailout was just an ambulance crew, when an economic ER & operating room was necessary. What is the best way to reap a whirlwind?

Whats wrong with a general bankruptcy ?

Or- instead of giving Wall Street about a trillion bucks, why not give every adult citizen a check for several million dollars? Then they could pay their mortgages and credit cards off, and a massive consumer spending spree would boost the economy.