reluctantly, the time has come for a bailout

reluctantly, i must state that the time has come for a government bailout to solve the housing-related woes we are in. it's painful for those who have been responsible borrowers, but hey, life ain't fair.

this this housing mess does not end until the government bails out the mess. congress is starting to talk about drafting a bailout, bernanke is hinting at it, even economy.com's mark zandi is down in washington floating a plan. it's coming. watching all sorts of irresponsible homeowners not yet in trouble push themselves into foreclosure to take advantage of the handout will be particularly galling.

regarding jobs, there was a tiny heads up in sunday's new york times. trimtab's enlightened view on jobs involves measuring consumer spending ability and job creation and how their numbers have often been more accurate than those from the government. they see a loss of 40,000 jobs in february compared to economist's estimates of a positive 30,000. if accurate, that's a problem.

all of this could have been avoided if something substantial had been launched last summer/fall; starting in january was much too late. reluctantly, the time has come for a bailout.