Let us just suppose, hypothetically speaking of course, that the Paulson Plan works as intended and shores up the credit market enough that as President Bush put it last night, people can get an auto loan.  Is the problem fixed?  Is the disaster averted?  No, it is simply postponed.  The fact is that our entire economy is a house built on sand.  Some have been warning for years the impending crisis being created by living above our means by credit.  This applies to both the individual citizen and the federal government.  It was a stupid assumption that house prices would just continue to rise ad infinitum. As some have pointed out the whole thing was fake prosperity creating a fakeconomic system that has now come to its inevitable end. The sad fact is that the people President Bush is talking about who will, after the great rescue, be able to get that auto loan should probably not be buying the car in the first place BECAUSE THEY CANNOT AFFORD THE DEBT THEY ALREADY HOLD. 

The consequences will be terrible, but even with the bailout, I fear unavoidable. The country can be saved, but not by more credit. This proposal amounts to giving a big score to a junkie. Eventually the junkie will be back. No, we must tighten our belts, work hard, and pay off the debt. To those who say this will not end up costing the taxpayers and might even turn a profit for the goverment I ask how do we know? Because Paulson (former chief exec at Goldman Sachs) says so? How do we even know what these securities are worth with the mark to market valuation system? I have not heard a single one of the money talkers give a sufficient explanation to that basic question. Before we do anything, we should unravel the mess and look at exactly what is behind these securities of questionable value. Not to mention, I think we are far from seeing the bottom of the market in housing and many more foreclosures will follow regardless of what Washington does.