Never been a huge fan of the man from Alabama.  But he had some great words of wisdom at today’s Bailout of the Century hearing:

“I understand the situation is dire.  But so is the condition of the taxpayer… yes, the market is overwhelmed by greed, a lack of oversight… and the bottom line, as I see it, is that you’re [sticking] the taxpayer with it.  I think that’s shameful myself.  I know there are better ways – would it be without pain?  Oh no… but the best – and Chairman Bernanke, I’ve heard you say this – the best disciplinary mechanism we have is the marketplace.  The marketplace will discipline all of us with pain.  But we learn.  I’m not sure people will learn if this goes through.”

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• Congress Told To Act Fast On Bailout Plan

Seth Godin offers Apple (and other marketers) some great advice.

Late today, the FDIC seized IndyMac.  Not surprising – but I am seeing some really ominous numbers.  The FDIC statement – issued after the markets closed yesterday – said that their preliminary estimate of the FDIC cost was $4 to $8 billion. About $1 billion of IndyMac deposits were uninsured and will be lost, affecting about 10,000 customers.

But now for the really troubling data: the FDIC’s total insurance fund is less than $60 billion.  If IndyMac ends up costing $6 billion, that’s more than ten percent of the FDIC’s total insurance fund that’s been wiped out with a single collapse.

Yet, the FDIC “insures” more than eight thousand banks with about $7 trillion in deposits.  The top 150 banks have total assets of at least $20 billion each and deposits exceeding $2 billion each.

I just don’t see how this can end well.

So, what happens when (not if) they fail?

Former Fed Governor William Poole says,

“Congress ought to recognize that these firms are insolvent, that it is allowing these firms to continue to exist as bastions of privilege, financed by the taxpayer..”

Big trouble, kids.

Bryan Burrough has penned a riveting article in the August issue of Vanity Fair exploring the death of Bear Stearns.  Did CNBC reporter David Faber murder it?  (No, but what an interesting media angle the piece contains.)  Was it a hit job by shadowy speculators?  Or did it just die of exposure to years of toxic, high-leverage mortgage shenanigans?

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Says Fed has “lost all credibility;” sees massive global unwinding.

The Royal Bank of Scotland issued an unprecedented – and grave – warning about global markets today.  Some excerpts:

“A very nasty period is soon to be upon us .. as all the [global debt] chickens come home to roost… [the US Federal Reserve] is in panic mode. The massive credibility chasms down which the Fed and maybe even the ECB will plummet when they fail to hike rates in the face of higher inflation will combine to give us a big sell-off in risky assets… economic weakness is spreading and the latest data on consumer demand and confidence are dire.”

Ruh roh!

Flickr founder says good-bye to the higher-ups at Yahoo!, while channeling Herman Zweibel.

If you really are, I encourage you to take a look at what the kids are doing, and what the “big boys” are saying when they don’t think anyone’s listening.  Then, you probably shouldn’t need to wonder.