I'm truly in despair by the turn of events in the financial system. Team Obama is charging down a perilous path, and there is so little mainstream debate about this stuff - just populist blather vs. elitists trying to hide their skeletons and lying to the populace to protect their "psychology".

Reading about the Geithner plan, I'm torn between whether I'm watching the biggest scam in history or just a bad "shoot the moon" strategy. My gut tells me that if Obama doesn't cut these clowns (Geithner, Summers, etc.) loose by the summer, the US is going to be fucked for many, many years.

As an ex-Wall Street software architect & trainer, long-time (10 years, at least) CNBC & Jim Cramer fan, etc., I actually have a certain amount of empathy for the Wall Street establishment. There was an element of meritocracy that you don't see in many industries, of ensuring that everyone with knowledge, skill, and talent was rewarded. I lament that it may all be coming to an end, and that we're lurching too far into punishing knowledgeable & talented people just because they are in "THAT industry"; on the other hand, there are fundamental problems with the system that need to be rectified, and the 'restore the status quo' patchwork approach that Obama & Geithner are currently chasing is probably not going to work. Ambivalence is the watchword.