Greenspan says it's bad but not THAT bad, I believe Greenspan :)

Nah. The economy could handle it. Besides, if it did crash like it did in 1929, the market would have to lost around 30% from a recent peak, or 3,304 points in a day or two. That, very likely, won't happen. Never say never, but that's asking a lot even in a slowed, yet technically not a recession, economy.

We can only hope that you have not had a spark of ESP.

First off, I'm not going to even remotely suggest that I have all the answers, but here are a few things that I know and others that I believe. The debt of this bailout will not fall on the irresponsible corporations who made stupid business decisions and got themselves into this mess. It will fall squarely upon the backs of the American taxpayer. We are relying on more foreign loans, increasing foreign debt. This will do nothing but cause a further collapse of the American dollar. We're deflating the value of our dollar. This money has to come from somewhere, after all. It's not just manufactured out of thin air. I think that a short-term 'fix', so that the fat cats can keep their money and let US pay the price will cause more problems in the long run. I think a short term 'crash', like that of the Great Depression might actually be more favorable than a decades long recession that will make what little money that we actually DO have worth nothing. What good is our social security if the check can't buy a loaf of bread? Plus, by doing this, we are sending out a message to big banking that, hey! It's OK if you're a bunch of screw-ups that can't manage your business affairs. Don't worry! It's OK. We'll take care you and secure your billions! The funniest damned thing about this whole thing is that the 'restructuring' that is planned will largely be headed up by the very SAME companies that are being bailed out. Further, with everything in the damned toilet, it will be more of an excuse to do things like privatize social security and eliminate things like medicare and medicaid. Drill the Arctic and offshore and look for short term solutions that don't address any real problems and continue on with the status quo. Let the gap between rich and poor become even larger. And, why the hell is it that I'm always asked to pay more to bail out rich, stupid billionaires when no one has ever done one damned thing to help ME? As to the possible collapse of the stock market, thus causing many small Americans to lose their life savings because we have invested in Wall Street, myself included, I might add, I'm unsure and admit it. Still, I think it may be necessary for all Americans to take a great big bite of this sh*t sandwich and deal with it. Let the mighty fall. I truly believe that the recovery and long-term outlook would be better for all if we bite the bullet now and take the knock, rather than the slow beating that may take decades for all of us to fully realize.