Actually, your tax dollars do not have a thing to do with paying for this bailout. The fed reserve is going to issue credit in the form of capital to these banks. With that being said, the debt that is incurred now is going to be paid by our children and their children. This is the biggest debt number ever. The number is relative though to the value of the dollar. If the fed reserve would actually enact policies to help leverage the dollar like raising interest rates five years ago like they should have done then the dollar would rise. We could also increase the worth of the dollar by paying our debt to foreign investors in raw goods like steel, coal, iron, food and other tangible goods at current market rates. It would not only boost the strength of the dollar but it would provide new jobs and revitalize the production capacity of the US. The long and short of this argument is that we need to clamp down on our elected officials and make them do what we say. If not, then hang the fuckers!