I'm also puzzled by people continuing to posit solutions for what the government "should do" to get out of this mess. A cursory analysis of our economic system (corporatism) would suggest things are working out exactly as they were intended to. The goal of our economy has never been to make things better for everyone, but to make things better for the corporations who bankroll our elected officials. The welfare of the taxpayer has nothing to do with this. All of you continuing to try to "help" the government with solutions miss the crucial fact that the people who got us into this mess know exactly how we got here, exactly how to "fix it", and exactly how they'll continue to steal from an unthinking population who worships the golden calf of the "free market". So relax. It's business as usual, folks. This is why America's the greatest country on earth™.