Incompetence and Greed

$700 billion of taxpayer money to bail out financial institutions. It's only money, Right? I do not know about you but every time I screw up because of my incompetence and or greed I have to buy my own medicine and suffer until I get well. The government does not come to my rescue with a prescription for wellness or a self help book for me to read while I am curled up in a ball waiting for the sickness to go away. I just have to make the best of the situation. If this bailout was not so tragic it would be comical. For too long the conventional wisdom of government intervention in the economy was a No-No and was avoided like the plague. The Free Market was depended upon to guide the economy towards growth and justice. Now Wall Street is begging for government aid in light of it's long devotion to a free and unregulated market.
A simple and powerful alternative would be to take that huge sum of money and give it directly to the people who need it. Let the government declare a moratorium on foreclosures, help home owners pay off their mortgages and create federal jobs to guarantee work for people who want and need jobs. The $700 billion should be spent for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness of the common man not for some fat cats on Wall Street to get even fatter. I say " screw the trickle down effect" and put that money directly into the pockets of the population.
The cry has gone out from Republicans and Democrats alike " Change"! This is a golden opportunity for which ever party wins the election to regulate the financial world so Wall Street and all the rest of the world's financial wizards will never be able to hold the common man's medicine hostage ever again.