I might stand corrected
Last night, I had dinner with several venture capitalist guys who are all a heck of a lot smarter on the financial markets situation and the proposed bailouts than I am. Here was the crux of the conversation:
1) The largest issue with the banking crisis is FAS 157 (FASB is the Financial Accounting Standards Board and FAS is Financial Accounting Standard). FASB is the organization that recommends and implements financial accounting standards for all businesses is the US and is generally driving many international accounting principles. They start with a recommendation and the allow for discussion on the recommendation, then in most cases the recommendation becomes a regulation. Once the recommendation becomes a regulation, the regulation becomes part of GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) and most companies implement immediately. More on FAS157 below.