I don't think there is a taxpayer who "wants" to pay to bail out those who made poor decisions. From the consumer to the fund manager, every layer of the credit market was somewhat corrupted. Now, credit markets are restricted and banks are reluctant to lend to each other. The credit crisis impacts so many people, the first impact was felt by those directly related to the housing market. Realtors, contractors, mortgage brokers, even sales at home improvement stores were impacted.

When bank write downs came, confidence dropped, leading some to withdraw deposits from poorly performing banks, e.g. the recent failure of WAMU. The shockwave spread throughout the banking industry, then you started to see the effect on the market. The dow, s&p and nasdaq all took a $hit on monday, only to make a rebound by nearly 500 points today, mainly fueled by speculation.

My employer supports the bailout, to free up credit markets and let the borrowing continue. I am not sure I favor throwing in 700 bn for fear that it is analogous to putting a band aid on a bullet wound. I will be attending a very interesting conference tomorrow, regarding consumer spending and the credit impact. I should have a good idea how the " average american" will fare in the weeks and months to come.