I understand there are divergent opinions on this matter. We all know the root cause of this crisis and some of us played one role or the other. 2004-2006 was the ONE era whereby no one was thinking smart. We all thought real estate was the savior of the human race. We bought homes on stated incomes. No one thought the market was going to go down.

The damage has been done and everyone's becoming a victim. The entire country, if not the entire universe. When one makes a mistake, one seeks to make corrections. Howbeit, we should not be stuck on the corrective analysis. We should take action to correct the mistake and have safeguards in place to prevent the recurrence of our stupidity.

Now is the time for Congress to act and renew its efforts to craft legislation -- amenable to both political parties -- that will calm the financial markets, address liquidity issues and begin to restore confidence in our financial system. Americans deserve nothing less.

If you've read history, then you know how the world was in the 30's. And what happened in 1939? There was the second world war, the result of which was the loss of millions of lives. I'm in favor of the Stimulus Package, the Mortgage Relief Act and this recent $700,000,000,000 (yes, 9 zeros) Bailout.

We live in perilous times. The 100+ year-old Wamu was taken over overnight by Chase, Merill Lynch by BoA and just yesterday Citi (America's # 1 banking conglomerate) swallowed up Wachovia, the nation's 4th largest financial institution. What's going on? Can you imagine if Wamu collapsed totally? What would happen to its 43K workforce?

This is exactly one of the reasons I support Obama, even though we have divergent views on issues like abortion and gay rights. I support him on BIG issues such as regulation, foreign policy, universal health care. We can't just give the Markets full rein without some sort of regulation. Life is to be regulated. If we do not regulate, we live room for chaos and mayhem. That's why we have legislatures, the police force, traffic lights, etc. Even the seasons are regulated. For McCain to want to leave the markets to sort itself out is total nonsense to me, to say the least.

In sum, we need the Bailout, but this time the institutions should be well regulated to handle whatever is given to them and the benefits should trickle down to those who need the help most and not to the fat cats up the financial echelons.

---The End---
This has been a Paul LeJoy contribution