I Just Can't Do It No matter how hard I try and how many experts say that it needs to be done, I can't bring myself to support the $700,000,000,000.00 bailout.

I sound a little bit like Bush when I say that my gut feeling is 'just say no.'

I don't believe that the world markets will seize up. They might slump and contract, but they won't disappear. The credit markets might panic for a while but sooner rather than later, people would start loaning money again. The US dollar might have quickly lost value on the currency market, but the added debt that we are going to take on will only slow the slide, not prevent it.

Ironically I probably would have supported a much more aggressive plan that would demand senior equity in exchange for the 'toxic' paper, but this approach of using an amount somewhere in neighborhood of a quarter of the annual federal budget as a life-preserver for markets that haven't been dealing with us or themselves honestly for years just doesn't sit well at all.

Since this looks like a done deal, I honestly hope I am wrong.  ¶ 10:39 PM