Nobody Panic

So, President Bush gave a speech this week about how to fix the economy.

Good evening. This is an extraordinary period for America's economy.

Good start. "Extraordinary" doesn't sound bad at all.

We're in the midst of a serious financial crisis...

...our entire economy is in danger.

...the gears of the American financial system began grinding to a halt.

...the situation becoming more precarious by the day...

...our country could experience a long and painful recession.

Ok, ok, I get it. He means extraordinarily bad. No need to harp on it.

The government's top economic experts warn that without immediate action by Congress, America could slip into a financial panic...

Why wait for Congress to cause a panic by inaction when a doomsday speech can do it now?

First, how did our economy reach this point? ... Easy credit... led to excesses and bad decisions. Many mortgage lenders approved loans for borrowers without carefully examining their ability to pay. Many borrowers took out loans larger than they could afford...

So, basically the economy is messed up because some banks made some "bad decisions" lending money to people who couldn't pay it back.

So I've proposed that the federal government reduce the risk posed by these troubled assets, and supply urgently-needed money so banks and other financial institutions can avoid collapse and resume lending.

Great idea. We just need to give those banks that made bad loans a bunch of money so that they can keep making those loans. That should fix the economy in no time.

Despite corrections in the marketplace and instances of abuse, democratic capitalism is the best system ever devised.

Under normal circumstances, I would have followed this course. But these are not normal circumstances.

Right, we only need the best system ever when things are good, not to help us out of a crisis.

The government is the one institution with the patience and resources to buy these assets at their current low prices and hold them until markets return to normal.

...the one institution that doesn't mind putting their money behind a bunch of companies that have shown their prowess at losing their own money.

Under our proposal, the federal government would put up to $700 billion taxpayer dollars on the line...

I mean, that doesn't mind put taxpayer money behind those companies.