Why do working tax payers have to give Paulson 850 billion to buy up worthless paper ets from Wall Street?

I don't like it. However, think of this economic crisis as a human body, blood being money, banks a heart, and we are parts of the body. Banks are not loaning money out to people. The whole point of buying these bad debts is to allow banks to start lending money. If the heart stops beating, the body dies. If banks stop lending money, small businesses that buy inventory on credit will die, leading to more loss of jobs. This is just to stop the bleeding, but we need more regulation to ensure the stability of our economy and that this won't happen again. True, business goes in cycles, but because of the reckless practices of our institutions and the average American living beyond their means, this downturn is going to be so severe.