For more information, read government documentation including the full-text of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

Congress is stupid. They "saved" taxpayers $700 billion while causing panic on Wall Street and destroying $1,000 billion (i.e. $1 trillion) in market cap. How will voters respond when they get their 401k, mutual fund, and brokerage statements? The economy needs help and unfortunately the U.S. Government is the only one with deep enough pockets. If congress thinks it's more important to fight about executive compensation and "proving" they can get they can get the money back. It proves they're partisan fools that they don't understand economics.

Using some of the bailout money for direct investment into US banks should be liked as much as similar plans by the British, French, & Germans. The goal is to get banks lending to each other as well as their customers. With so much fear these actions should help create more trust among financial institutions. I'm crossing my fingers.