There are always going to be hardluck stories. But the problem was that lending institutions were giving money to anyone who would take it. It did not matter if they could afford to pay it back, the lenders would package it up and move it down the road. This country can still work and pay it's way out. Maybe you don't need a new car every year, or a $300K mortgage. Maybe you just need to pay for what you already have. The credit market is NOT going to suddenly dry up, it's going to regain some logic. The only one losing right now are the speculators. Sure my 401K has taken a beating, but I don't need it today. It will bounce back without the government bailing out these empires of paper. Want to get this country moving again, take the $700 bil and invest it in repairing the country's infrastructure. Creat REAL jobs with REAL pay and futures. Roads, railways, public works and the like. There is work for all and for many years to come.