There is only one good thing that may come from this huge mess (if the country can survive it - which isn't guaranteed). I think that it is going to be very hard for low credit rating people (and maybe others) to get loads of credit in the future. That may help with overall saving rates and fiscal responsibility.

I don't know enough about the overall probllems that we are trying to fix to know if what they did is the right move or not. But very few people remember the inflation in Germany in the early 1900's. I am talking the type of inflation where you have to add three or six zeroes to your dollars bills just to buy a cup of coffee. We could have been headed there.