I, too, oppose the loan/equity purchase with GM. It cannot be saved without enormous resources, so we should let it go.

As for TARP, I liked the 1.5 page bill, but opposed the 450 page monstrosity. That said, using funds to purchase equity in banks has settled the fear of bank closings in the short run. Those fears were very real.

If the government leaves banks and the car companies alone (at most lend them some money), then I still foresee the possibility of a profit. I have very little confidence, however, in Congress and the new Administration leaving management alone.

Hence, the best I can foresee is a bad recession and years of lower growth as a result. The possibility of hyperinflation still worries me: for now, all the new money appears to be just sitting there. But, at some point, it could accelerate into consumer buying without increased real productivity (I don’t count make-work government projects). That will result in inflation.

The bond market continues to act strangely. Long bond yields are up a tad, but remain astonishingly low. Short yields remain near zero. Deflation remains a possibility in the near term, if not longer term (after the hyperinflation bubble bursts).

For now, my Escalade warranty seems to be safe. I guess I like that. It is a small return on a couple trillion dollars, but, it is something.

The woman who cut my hair last week is worried about her small business closing. She has watched three nearby businesses close in the past few months. She wonders why we would spend so much to save those who created their own problems and tax her so much to pay for it that she must close.

From a selfish viewpoint, I hope they inflate the economy and pump money into eduction. I can get a big, secure raise, pay off remaining debts, get out of the market, and sit back and watch.

Guns, gold, and silver are long-term solid investments. Anything else tangible and very high quality (as long as it is not already bid up too high) should also be safe. Otherwise, my confidence is gone.

so why lend any money to them now. There is no quick solution to the finacial situation or the economy, which means they will need more money within 18 mos to keep going. Then the people will say enough is enough, refuse to make more loans, the companies will file bankruptcy and force us taxpayers to take a major loss any way. Make them file now and save us tax money and time in helping us recover. This only prolongs the recession if we keep bailing out companies instead of reaching a bottom.

The nationalization of entire industries should teach us Republicans something. And what is it?

That the (R) after someone’s name does not mean they should get our support.

Never forget it was a Republican President, supported by the Repubican candidate for president in 2008, who began the process of bringing socialism to America. Bush and company have made it easy for Obama to complete the process of nationalization of the means of production, and we won’t even be able to blame the democrats for this fiasco.

Amazing, simply amazing. Republicans will not be able to get past this anytime soon. What foolishness! Does everyone realize the future ramifications of this?