Off The Cliff

I'd like it better if "weeks" were reduced to "days":

Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The government is planning to buy stakes in a wide range of banks within weeks as the credit freeze increasingly threatens to tip the U.S. economy into a deep recession.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and top aides are still considering options on how the purchases would work, including having the government acquire preferred stock, two officials informed of the matter said.

The move would be a shift in emphasis in Paulson's original intention for the $700 billion bailout package passed by Congress last week. While the Treasury still aims to buy troubled mortgage-backed securities from financial institutions, a direct capital injection would offer more immediate relief.

"The Treasury is no longer looking for one silver bullet,'' said Steve Bartlett, president of the Financial Services Roundtable, which represents 100 of the biggest firms in the industry. "They have to proceed on all fronts.''

Aside of thinking about how I should have gotten out of certain stocks when I had the chance, I have been wondering about what the hell is taking Paulson so long. He's acting like he has time to sculpt the Pieta as the Dow drops huge chunks every day and the credit markets stay frozen. We're way past the time for action on the margins.

I guess I'm supposed to be cheered that this is showing the unsustainability and intellectual bankruptcy of the conservative project, and leading to their imminent implosion. And that's fine, but the cost is going to be so great, and furthermore it won't be borne by the fanatics and fools (h/t Arianna Huffington) who brought us to the brink.

It's very depressing.