The financial meltdown is beginning to look more like complete liquefaction as the finance sector continues to disintegrate before our eyes. Washington Mutual, one of America's largest commercial banks, is now the latest financial victim to suffer from the subprime mortgage collapse.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over WaMu on Thursday and then sold the assets back to JP Morgan for $1.9 billion. Customers' bank deposits will be OK, but WaMu shareholders will be left holding the bag with next to nothing.

Meanwhile, back on Capitol Hill the Congressional lawmakers are reconvening today having thought the matter was put to bed last night, still trying to come up with an acceptable plan to stabilize the markets by loaning the banks $700 billion of the taxpayers hard earned money.

Secretary Paulson wanted the proposal signed without much questioning, but the public outcry is gaining in volume as Representatives are bombarded by angry constituents who seem to have little desire, or sympathy to help come to the aid of the millionaire bankers on Wall Street.

The Washington Post says that during yesterday's crisis meeting on Capitol Hill, Bush is said to have warned the gathering of the economy: "If money isn't loosened up, this sucker could go down."

One of the crucial points of contention continues to be the application of executive salary caps of the 'government sponsored' financial institutions and their new CEO's. Many feel that the salary's a should be capped, some have even suggesting 'capping' their kneecaps too, which though a bit extreme, the sentiment however, is excusable. Perhaps as an option I suggest executives should contribute 3,000 hours community service, maybe work in the homeless shelters giving back to the community instead of making that early morning tee-time at the country club.

The problem is that, though it seems unconscionable to fathom, but we are going to need some of these people to rebuild confidence in the markets, as loathed as I am to endorse, or contribute a reward to these folks what will we do with out them? Do you really think that any of our elected officials could do any better, actually scratch that, I think a set of badgers lit up on moonshine could have made better decisions regarding lending money.

Many of these corporate fat cats were looking to make money for their shareholders, who were desperate to keep their portfolio's and dividends bulging. With the broker trading commission pool diminishing daily with online trading, 'bad' subprime mortgage securities looked like a sure bet. Ooops.

The reality is that if executive salaries are capped and we get the guys in with elbow patches on their jacket sleeves it is just going to drive the banking industry further away from Manhattan. Come to think of it, that may not be such a bad idea. In an ideal and just world the greed of these Wall Street warriors would not be rewarded as they would now die by the same financial sword they had been wielding back in the boom days. Unfortunately the real problem is much bigger than just the marbled foyeurs of Wall Street and maybe now the suits are finally seeing the harsh reality, not merely pretending that things are 'fundamentally sound' with the financial markets as Mr Bush put it recently in another excruciatingly painful soliloquy.

Unemployment is on the rise, main street suffering, foreclosures rampant, even effecting those with 'good loans,' property values plummeting as the housing market is now worse than it has been in over 17 years. Perhaps plan B should be let's just see where the chips fall since up and until today, no one has convinced me with any certainty, that printing $700 billion of the taxpayers money is going to fix the mess and I am especially sceptical when the same government that is telling me that this emergency bailout plan is going to work happens to be the same administration that said there were WMD's in Iraq.