Breadlines are coming and I'll personally blame people like you. Thanks! You just turned off the credit tap. That sounds wonderful on paper, but now people with excellent credit won't be able to buy cars, houses, or businesses on credit. What happens then? Poor people get laid off by the millions. Congrats, you are celebrating on the backs of the working suckers who will now get laid off. - Robert Scoble

Agreed. - David Risley

I'm not buying into depression fear. Glad to see this fail as it stands. Hoping to see the government continue to help smooth the market via negotiated buyouts. See WaMu and Wachovia. And Wells Fargo is still in a buying mood too. - AJ Kohn

2nd. It's going to be ugly and painful, but its looking more and more unlikely that even 700B would be enough to stop the train we're all on. - Jim Goldstein

Here in the UK, a second bank has just been nationalised. We seem hell bent on privatising profits and socialising debt. Sad - PaulJohnson

i hate to use the analogy but a chainsaw was used where a scalpel was needed - adolfo foronda

The bailout bill would not have been a good idea. - Michael Forian

@Robert Scoble: You sound like Bush. - Eric P

Gregory, I think you're right. A lot of Americans were dead against this bailout, and the politicians--even a good many who thought it was a good idea--didn't want to vote for it. - Steve Lowe

You are a dunce. - S Adler from twhirl

The bailout seems unfair, but I don't feel qualified to know whether or not it is good or bad, in general, for it to have failed. I do feel worried, though. - felix

Eric: i sat down with some smart economists last week who told me what's going on. Whatever. The market agrees with me. So, let's meet in six months and see the damage. I hope I still have a job. If not, I'm coming over and sleeping on your couch, OK? - Robert Scoble

I don't think--at least I hope--it won't be as bad as the worst estimates, but given that the "free market" (which isn't and has never been free) has generally screwed ordinary folks since Adam Smith, I think the only people who really want to see this fail are well-off Social Darwinists with more money than morals. - Steve Lowe

I have no business commenting on this. That is, of course, an excuse to comment here. I agree with Scoble. What the US needs is tighter controls & better oversight of its lenders & investors. A bailout would've given the government the right to be the controlling or overseeing body with less harm. - Vijay

Back to Cash Economy. - CW™

Too bad this won't be a short term pain if things keep going the way they are. We are quickly heading towards our bank system failing and if that happens, not only will our country head into another depression but many other countries around the world will also plunge into economic hell. - Mathew™ one of a kind

I greatly doubt that banks will not do loans anymore, for that is the only way that banks make money. Now, granted, the banks are not going to be giving them out like they are candy on Halloween to ever ghoul and goblin that comes to the door, but they are still going to give out loans. The general public when they want a loan will have to show that they can afford the loan over the period of the loan itself, and that they have a real need for it. - Wizetux

"The market" is composed of the same people who created this mess, who are now selling off because they're not getting $700 billion of taxpayer money to line their pockets with. At this point I have no reason to trust any of the people talking doom and gloom. This is WMD's all over again. - Eric P

I take it Robert would have preferred I celebrate on the broken backs of the responsible American taxpayer? And Robert, you're not the only one who speaks with "smart economists" - and they don't all agree with you. Many of them think a functioning market requires that bad bets are punished. And where have you been on this issue? - Anthony Citrano

There needs to be some money invested back into the market otherwise we are going to see the next great depression. There will be no lending even for those with perfect credit. Unless they pass some sort of package, you will see the hugest FAIL yet! - David Ward

Anthony: well, we're being punished all right. Oh, well. Major shit is coming, I'm off to the store to buy some supplies. - Robert Scoble

Scobleizer, you don't have a y2k end of the world supply left over? - Simon May

Anthony: The pain will be far from short term unless some form of this bill is passed. They need to get back in their and come to an agreement. - David Ward

Robert, since you've decided to personalize this by blaming people like me, I didn't hear you using your soapbox to discourage the orgy of borrowing and spending your fellow citizens went on over the past seven years to warn them of calamity if it continued - (quite the opposite.) On the other hand, I have done so loudly, clearly and consistently - long suggesting Americans wake up and take some hard looks in the mirror. So, I'll blame people like you for any disaster that follows. - Anthony Citrano

Anthony: OK, that's fair. So, now that the blame is out of the way, what we gonna do? Just watch the whole country stop? Or, you gonna join with me to come up with solutions? Work the problem as it exists today, let's get away from the blame. - Robert Scoble

crazy times in Charlotte NC.. Wachovia is done.. there's no gas in the city.. not much of a victory for the people here - Travis Parsons

@Robert: *now* you want to get away from the blame? @David: that is NOT going to happen. I have talked with quite a few people on the Hill today. Let's all stop wishing and start realizing that you cannot legislate against gravity. Even if they *do* pass something, it's going to be window dressing / political cover for Election Day and will not make a palpable difference to the market. The problem we face is more than 40 times the size of the entire US GDP. So: </fun>. - Anthony Citrano

With you there Robert. Blame gets us nothing; what can we do to solve this - Aaron Krug

@Paul - "privatising profits and socialising debt." wow. that sums it up. - jeneane sessum

Amazing how "only bailout for exactly $700B -- or bust" are the only two options. Seriously? No other plans, options, or proposals to deal with the mess? We're playing right into their hands. - Ambar Pansari

The point is, the government is now there to do things like this. This is a democracy, is it not??? If the government passes a bailout, that goes against democracy. It is socialism. If they want to do it, then at least call a spade a spade. This country is moving further and further away from democracy, and the citizens accept it under the guise of safety and security. - Andru Edwards

So now that government intervention helped steamroll this situation, the solution is more government intervention at our expense? I agree w/your tweet 100 percent. - Bryan Saxton

@Ambar: even the full $700B is just spitting in the ocean. We have a $600 TRillion derivatives problem that is just beginning to come unraveled. Future versions of this bill won't matter, except to those seeking reelection. - Anthony Citrano

@Andru: I have no problem with sensible regulation - I am not a rabid free marketeer - but I do not believe the taxpayer should be forced to retroactively rescue people from bad gambles. It's unfair and immoral. Hard working Americans who made sensible decisions during aforesaid orgy should not be compelled by law to pay the bill. - Anthony Citrano

@Robert: as to "joining you" for "solutions" - I have been suggesting them publicly and privately for years. Unfortunately one part of the solution is the pain phase - which we are just entering - and it will be severe. Yes, we must ensure a safety net for those who will be truly derailed by this. To anyone serious about organizing public policy solutions to this, my email door is always open, because it goes well beyond a FriendFeed comment box. But I won't be holding my breath. - Anthony Citrano

I'm with Scoble on this one. It's understandable that the average taxpayer is enraged by this bailout. And yes, many financial institutions deserve to fail. Problem is, the innocent will suffer more than the guilty if congress just lets this play out with no intervention. - Howard Keziah

Howard - please at very least read what I wrote here. If you're ambitious, read what I (and many others way smarter than me) have written on it over the years. Do you really, really think Congress can fix this? Have you done the math? You know the problem is more than ten times the entire GDP of Planet Earth, right? - Anthony Citrano

Anthony - what is the worst-case scenario here, in your opinion? - Sean McBride

@Sean: the *worst* case (but NOT the most likely) is a collapse of the global finance house of cards, death of the dollar and fiat currencies, and a return to barter and intrinsics; absolute obliteration of American suburbia; epic global depression. [For a perspective on some of this, read James Howard Kunstler (someone who has been way ahead of the curve on these issues).] Tectonic social strife and the bankruptcy of the US Treasury. Private currencies could start to spring up.. (again: this is the worst, but not most likely, case.) - Anthony Citrano

Again: where were most of you as this was unfolding over the past seven years? Oh, I remember: navel-gazing and encouraging the masses to buy the latest shiny object with their MasterCards, all while ignoring or deriding those of us who dared suggest we examine our way of life. Now you want us to pick up the tab. Sorry guys, but the faux-populist lectures - especially from this crowd - are a little hard to take. - Anthony Citrano

Well, I came onto this one way late, but it sure was fun reading it, even without nested comments. - Rick Powell