CNN

Are Federal Bailouts the answer to a country made great by a free market society?

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

The financial crisis is uncharted territory.

Nobody knows if a $700 billion government bailout will do the trick or not. If we do nothing, the pessimists suggest we're headed off a cliff. Granted, in time and left to their own devices, the markets would likely self-correct. The question is whether the country could stand the pain that would undoubtedly involve.

On the other hand, if we allow the federal government to, in effect, take over and/or manage some of our biggest financial institutions, we have compromised our capitalism. And no one knows what the long term effects of that might be either.

The engines that drove our economy to be the most powerful the world has ever seen are free markets and an entrepreneurial spirit that allows those willing to take big risks to reap big rewards.

According to an Associated Press-Knowledge Networks poll, 57 percent said they think the bailout is needed to keep the U.S. economy out of a serious recession. But only 35 percent said they think the plan would resolve the financial crisis.

Here’s my question to you: Should the government bail out the economy or should the markets be allowed to correct themselves?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

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