What, You Don't Trust Us?

"Why did the bailout plan fail to obtain Congressional approval?" my friend Jim Hibdon asks in a letter published in today's Wall Street Journal. "It failed because the public was told that a massive failure of the financial system was imminent, with dire consequences to an already struggling economy, but absolutely no evidence was offered to support this statement. ... Instead, public officials -- elected or not -- have said in effect: 'Trust me.'"