WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The watchdog panel for the $700 billion bank bailout faulted the U.S. government for the last time on Wednesday, saying the p...

How does that impact a family in Houston or a farmer in Iowa? It means that it is going to become harder to borrow money since the banks don't want to make loans.

If we're going to minutely examine autoworkers' wages, and dictate the travel plans of one industry we are bailing out, then it seems eminently reasonable to do the same for the banking industry.

A wise Democrat I know argues that a 21st Century WPA-type program is not only good policy; it's also good politics: "Bailing out financial markets is playing defense. I want to play offense."

The President and Congress have finally allowed us to allocate $700 billion to a policy, about whose success they are, at least reasonably, doubtful. They should enact new regulations.

If credit dries up and there is no plan, more of your neighbors will lose their homes. Those homes will sit empty because potential buyers will not be able to come up with financing.

Goldman went on a shopping spree buying up mortgages -- yours, mine and your neighbors, and bought 8,274 of them.

What's wrong with dribbling out a little money now, say $150 billion, and then waiting until January 21st when a new president and Congress are sworn in to figure out what to do next?