Here are the six bailouts which it summarized as follows:

• "August 2007, when the credit crunch was officially recognized by the Fed, when they cut the discount rate.
• December 2007, with the announcement of the [Term Auction Facility] TAF and other credit facilities;
• January 2008 Soc Gen panic -- in which a French bank unloaded a $7.1 billion securities position in a panic -- and a 75 [basis points] emergency [rate] cut;
• March 2008 with the Bear Stearns bailout.
• July 2008 the first Fannie/Freddie rescue attempt
• September 2008 the actual Bailout of Fannie/Freddie"

These weekend bailouts signal an economy and a government that's in a heap of trouble. They seem to share three common features:

• Panic. They suggest that the government seems to believe that it is better to do something -- whether it makes sense or not -- and to do it fast. And these panicked plans are often "sold" to the public with slogans -- such as "too big to fail" or "stopping turmoil in the financial markets." But their purpose is elusive -- beyond bailing out the winners and letting the losers twist in the wind.
• Secrecy. It it never clear why the government is making these moves until after they have been put into effect. While we supposedly live in a democracy, these secretive deals are not publicly debated and they use taxpayer's money without letting the public assess their costs and benefits.
• Ineffectiveness. For instance, the rate cuts and the use of Treasury funds to bailout bad investments have not restored the credit or housing markets. But they have driven up consumer prices as mortgage rates have risen, housing prices continued to plummet, foreclosures hit records, the deficit keeps rising, and bad loans soar.

With an election approaching, these weekend bailouts seem to be designed to keep the current party in power while kicking the real solutions into the next president's term. But as The Big Picture suggests, if the purpose is to boost the stock market, these bailouts are becoming less and less effective every time they are announced. And since last August, the S&P 500 has lost 13%.