Mike, I don't know what Obama will do. What I am hearing is that Capitalism is falling just as Communism fell under the weight of its own unrealistic dogma. Since the market has shown that Randian notions are false- IOW that unfettered capitalists will destroy the market in the interests of greed and at the cost of a stable society for the rest of us- government oversight and/or ownership of key parts of the market seems inevitable. As for "charity" - IMHO government support for those who cannot support themselves is not charity. It's one of the few things government can do to keep the peace in a community where there is a growing rift between rich and poor. IMHO we all need to remember that policing and civic peace is finished if a mob of 10,000 people decides to make its own rules and no longer to respect the laws of a society that would let their kids starve. 2.3 million people lost their jobs in the US last year.