Anyone else a little nervous?

Hello everyone, I was invited to join your Blahg and post two emails that I sent to several of my friends regarding the credit crisis. During the past two weeks, I've alternated between grudging support and outright opposition to the rescue plan. Being just your average ignorant citizen, I can't tell if (a) We're circling the drain and something must be done STAT!, or (b) We'll get through this if we just keep our heads. At this point, I'm not inclined to leave anything to chance...

The following is the first email that I sent to my friends last Friday afternoon, September 26:

Good afternoon dear friends and concerned citizens:

I hope that each of you is aware of the negotiations afoot in Washington to bail out Wall Street for their greed and stupidity. By the end of this weekend, the government will have added another $2,300 to each person's debt (currently over $32,000 for every man, woman, and child in this country), collectively known as the national debt:

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

I urge you to contact your representative (www.house.gov) and senators (www.senate.gov) and urge them not to rubber stamp Hank Paulson's plan to bail out the Wall Street firms without protection for the taxpayers. We should urge our elected officials to carefully consider the alternatives. Personally, I believe that the government should receive an equity stake in every company that needs government assistance. That way, the taxpayers get a piece of the upside when these companies return to profitability. Don't let Paulson and friends socialize their losses and not their profits!

I also recommend contacting both presidential candidates for good measure. But don't wait too long. By the end of this weekend, the deal will likely be made, so you must act without delay.

Thank you everyone. I'm mad as hell.

Despite my opposition to the original incarnation of the Paulson plan, I genuinely believed and hoped that congress would pass something by Monday, even if it was only slightly less dreadful. I confess that I was among the stunned when the compromise plan failed, and I wrote the following email Tuesday night, partly to balance my initial criticism:

Good evening dear friends and concerned citizens,

On Monday, a majority of our elected representatives heard the popular outcry against a giveaway to Wall Street. However, rather than agree to a compromise plan that would help to loosen the credit markets while simultaneously protecting taxpayers, the majority decided to do nothing. Despite my repugnance to saving Wall Street from its excesses, I believe with many others that inaction in this case is not the answer. Many fear that the continued stress in the credit markets will have a widespread and detrimental effect upon the economy as a whole, from which few will be spared. A reasonably crafted compromise plan may mitigate the current paralysis in the credit markets while at the same time protect the taxpaying citizens, and the bill that was defeated on Monday was an attempted to achieve those goals.

No one is pleased with the current hand we've been dealt, and no bill will be approved to applause. However, by opting for nothing, the majority chose the worse option on Monday. By doing nothing for so long, our government permitted unhealthy and irresponsible growth to destabilize the very machinery of our economy, and doing nothing now will ensure that our economic descent will be raw and protracted.

Last week, I urged you to contact your elected officials to voice your opposition to a Wall Street bailout while demanding that alternatives be considered. Now I'm asking you to contact them again, this time to voice support for a compromise plan. Today I called and emailed my representative a second time. Evidenced by his voting No on Monday, last week he must have heard all of the anger in my voice and none of the fear. Unfortunately, it may be that Monday's was the best deal that we're going to get, and it's a sad comment on our predicament that we probably need to enact a mediocre plan quickly rather than an excellent plan after much deliberation and delay. Please reach out to your elected officials this week, so that they understand that we need them to be leaders at this time and take action through compromise, a couple of little somethings we've been asking of them since time immemorial.

Thank you for your time. I'm still mad as hell, but also worried.

So now it's early Thursday morning and the Senate has just passed it's monstrous version of the compromise package. As much as it disgusts me, I fear there's no going back at this point. But I do wonder just how much our fears are driving this debate and misleading us to believe that the situation is getting out of hand...