When the credit markets froze, Washington started moving some big money. The “Wall Street Bailout” rocketed through congress, authorizing over $700 billion to be spent loosening the credit markets back up. President Bush insisted that a failure to pass the bailout would be a disaster. To pass the bill in a hurry, congress gilded it with pork. Of course, the credit markets ground to a halt because greedy Wall Street lenders gave too much credit to people who were not creditworthy—but what the heck, more credit must be a good thing. The massive cost of the bailout was equivalent to the cost of the war in Iraq, or twice as much as it would cost to give universal health care to every American. Most Americans resented the idea of bailing out mega-rich Wall Street fat cats.
