Can't they just leave us alone and not bankrupt us

In March, the Federal Reserve took unprecedented action to ensure an orderly resolution for Bear Stearns, and in September, authorities around the world took steps to mitigate the impact of the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, America's fourth largest investment bank. That same week, the Federal Reserve provided funding to American International Group (AIG) to address the systemic risk that would have resulted from a sudden collapse of the firm. Several weeks later, the FDIC facilitated JPMorgan Chase's acquisition of the banking operations of Washington Mutual, one of America's largest retail banks. The Bush Administration and Congress have taken a number of steps, including a $150 billion stimulus package, to help mitigate the impact on the real economy.

This past summer, investors began to express growing concerns over the stability of Fannie and Freddie and the ambiguity over the scope and certainty of government support for these institutions. In response, Secretary Paulson asked Congress for certain authorities regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in order to help stabilize and support our financial and housing markets. The Treasury established contractual Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements with both institutions, committing up to $100 billion per institution.

Federal Reserve launched a Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF), which provides a broad backstop for the commercial paper market by funding purchases of commercial paper of three month maturity from high-quality issuers.

Despite the hardening of the government's support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the decisive resolutions of Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, AIG, Washington Mutual, and Wachovia things are only getting worse. The politicians need to stay out of this as they are part of the root cause and they have little in common with the average citizen.