We're Doomed?

I watched Bush's speech last night about the need for government to bailout the economy. Was it just me or did it seem like he did more to panic people than to allay their fears? Apparently, I'm not the only one to think so.

Bush painted a grim picture view of the future if Congress doesn't act, but he really didn't address how the plan would work. Bush did comment that the plan was to buy assets "at the current low price", seemingly contradicting the comments from Bernanke and Paulson earlier today that they would buy at above the current "fire sale" prices.

I'm not sure if this speech will motivate people to call their representatives, but it might motivate people that haven't been paying attention to say: "Wow, this is bad. Let's make sure our money is safe, and watch our expenditures." And that could lead to a deeper recession.

Seems like another consolidation of government power and control playing on the fear of American citizens. In that sense, this is just like the Great Depression...

See coverage of Bush's speech in The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.