My current perspective on the country's economy and government

"Our economy is in a mess" reported Senator McCain. The U.S. housing market "is in shambles", according to Senator Obama. The economy and government go hand in hand, concerning the US's finances and government policies as well as the lives of everyday Americans. Americans are looked upon as both the citizens of a democracy, as well as the people who uphold Americans financial roots in their taxes and on Wall Street.
Within the past week, the Bush administration asked Congress for the authority to spend $700 billion to bail out financial institutions facing bankruptcy and foreclosure. The treasury department is preparing to purchase illiquid mortgage assets, insisting the government will actually make a profit after the economy recovers and these businesses are resold. The government's intervention in order to fix a torn economy is extremely necessary because with bankruptcy inevitable for the Lehman Brothers, and the AIG in serious trouble, the entire housing economy would be destroyed if the governmet did not step in. If this problem is not fixed immediately, the already falling economy will be destroyed, and the United States will not have the markets and opportunities available to satisfy the needs of the people. We need to stop this issue before it gets so far that the only solution is to print more money. Printing more money would be a step forward followed by two steps backward, aiding the economy initailly, but causing extreme inflation, making the dollar worth much less and putting the United States further behind on an international perspective.
With so much stock held in companies such as the Lehman Brothers, the American International Group, Frannie Mae and Frankie Mac, the liquidation of these companies would leave Wall Street in complete disarray, resulting in another Great Depression. The Federal Reserve's agreement to give an $85 billion bailout to AIG is the largest intervention in private business in the federal bank's history since the Great Depression. Hopefully this does not foreshadow another catastrophe.
With such large sums of money coming from the federal reserve, an applicable question becomes the funding for such financial assistance. Thoughts circulating through many minds include increased taxes. No goverment action at all would cause another depression, and printing more money would cause inflation, leaving increased taxes the only plausible response.
These companies certainly should be aided in order to prevent their foreclosure and stop Dow Jones from plummeting downward further towards disaster. However, if the government completely bought these companies, it would be unfair because these businesses would be bailed out with no consequences or worries at all. This is not right because the companies in trouble caused their own problems by lending mortgages to those unable to afford them, and their second chance is at the taxpayers expense. An option that would work nicely would be for the government to lend such companies just enough money to help them get on their feet again on a basis that they will pay this money back over time with interest. Once the mortgage companies restore their business, the economy will once again prosper.
Response to these issues of the funding for such an expenditure, the extent to which the government should intervene, and what should be done has become a major factor in the 2009 presidential elections. Both candidates seem to be approaching these issues with extreme care, trying not to isolate certain groups of people, while campaigning on platforms of what should be done to fix the economy.
Certainly when these loans were provided, the companies thought they were taking small risks that would not put them at a huge expense. Surely the mortgage companies wish they could change the course of events now that their small risks in housing loans have created huge problems. Or, very well-put in a direct quote from Benjamin Franklin, "Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship."