The United States of...France?

I read an interesting article on Time Magazine [onlinel] via CNN.com this morning. It has some delightful witty sarcasm in it but takes an intriguing look at the state of the American economy and the direction it is heading with all of the government bailouts. "We're more French than France." It does make me wonder though. I heard Nancy Pelosi yesterday say, "We will not simply hand over a $700 billion blank check to Wall Street and hope for a better outcome." Now I am not a big Nancy Pelosi fan but that just seems to make a lot of sense. There just does not seem to be any consequences for making stupid mistakes with a lot of money for Wall Street. I understand that many people (most/all people?) are dependent upon Wall Street doing well, but I feel like $700 billion is just going to end up getting blown and then what do we do? Where is the accountability? If Mr. Small Business Owner makes stupid decisions and goes under - who helps him? Yes it is true that less lives are dependent upon him making it - but I am pretty sure he and his family and what small amount of employees he may have will all suffer. Its just so frustrating because this all seems like "regular people" are the ones getting fleeced here. If you are responsible, pay your taxes, invest your money, live within your financial means, and recognize accountability in your life - the US government has no care for you. Frustrating. When will our 2 candidates talk about this and be REAL with their answers? Probably never, but one could hope...