America's Economic Resilience Former chief executive Bill Clinton has been campaigning for current President Barack Obama, but Clinton’s latest comment on the economy might not help Obama in the November election. As bad news piles up, more and more people are taking a dim view of America’s economic prospects. Is it really that bad? We hear that there is another side to the story.

Is It Time to Bust the Trusts Again? In a major shift from his days as head of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan said last week that America's major financial institutions are "too big to fail."  He said that means they're too big and ought to be broken up.  But even new regulations to limit excessive risk and protect consumer finance may be in trouble on Capitol Hill.

For GM and Chrysler: an Ultimatum President Obama says General Motors and Chrysler have failed to justify their requests for $17 more billions of federal dollars. Bankruptcy is a real possibility. GM has 60 days to come up with a better plan for reorganization; Chrysler has 30 days to pull together a merger with Fiat of Italy. Even if the companies do go bankrupt, the President insists that he won't let the auto industry die: he says Washington will back the warranties on all their new cars. The President compared what's happening to the auto industry to a natural disaster. He spoke directly to the men and women who work in the industry and those who live in communities that depend on it, saying he can't pretend there won't be tough times to come. Will today's drastic actions help to restore it or drive it over a cliff?

Getting the Biggest Bang from the Next Bailout Big chunks of America's biggest banks are now owned by the taxpayers and, with billions more bailout money to come, they're going to own more. The Obama Administration is faced with a major question: with federal ownership on the increase, should there be more federal control? The President says he won't subsidize failure by allowing bailout money to pay for executive bonuses. Does he need to do more? Should he nationalize the banks and dismiss the architects of failure? Buy up those “toxic assets?” Cut the size of banks so they're not “too big to fail?” What's the best way to get the biggest bang for the next bailout?

Can Barack Obama Follow the Money? Lawmakers in both parties are outraged that the Bush Administration lost track of $350 billion, the first half of last year's massive financial bailout . Today, at Barack Obama's request, President Bush agreed to ask for the second half, so Obama will have it as soon as he takes office next week. We hear how banks refused to account for their use of taxpayer money, while there was no effort to prevent mortgage foreclosures. What's Obama saying to assure Congress he can do better?

Markets Slide as Wall Street Staggers The brokerage firm Bear Stearns got a bailout earlier this year.  The federal government also agreed to prop up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mack .  But over the weekend, Treasury Secretary Paulson drew the line when it came to Lehman Brothers, which has now declared bankruptcy .  Merrill Lynch has sold itself off. AIG , America's biggest insurance company, could be next. Stock prices are plunging. From Wall Street to Washington to the presidential campaign trail there is talk of America's worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. President Bush says he's working to minimize the disruption . McCain and Palin promise reform . Obama and Biden insist it's time to change parties . We look at the reshaping of both the financial world order and the race for the White House.

Federal Take-Over of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Led by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the Bush Administration seized control of the country's two largest mortgage finance companies yesterday. In his announcement of the takeover, Secretary Paulson said, "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are so large and so interwoven in our financial system that a failure of either of them would cause great turmoil...at home and around the globe." Will the Paulson plan work? How will it affect consumers? What will it mean to the housing market? How much will it cost taxpayers?