In one of the most dramatic weeks of economic upheavals in recent history, a 158-year-old investment bank went belly-up, another was sold, and the government took over one of the world's largest insurance agencies. A few days later, central banks from around the world issued more cash in an attempt to spur banks to begin lending again and the presidential candidates traded jabs as they refined their reactions to the crisis. This video can be watched in two five-minute chunks. The first relates the news from the past week, including Republican outrage at the extensive government intervention in the economy, and the second part looks at how the McCain and Obama campaigns are tackling the topic as they try to position themselves as the best choice to fix the American economy. Quotes "Our financial markets continue to deal with serious challenges. As our recent actions demonstrate, my administration is focused on meeting these challenges. The American people can be sure we will continue to act to strengthen and stabilize our financial markets and improve investor confidence." - President George Bush "Our heads are spinning right now with the bailout mania. First, we were told that Bear Stearns was too big to fail. Then we were told that Freddie, Fannie were too big to fail. Then we were told AIG was too big to fail. What's next? Starbucks, too big to fail?" - Republican Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota "How does this work? I mean, can -- can the private -- this is a private company, a private company. Can they just run wild, again, anything goes, and when they fail, they're too big to fail, and the taxpayer pays the price?" - Speaker of the House Democrat Nancy Pelosi "[We would raise taxes on anybody making over $250,000.] It's time to be patriotic… time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut. And the way to do that is -- they're still going to pay less taxes than they paid under Reagan." - Senator Joe Biden, Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate "Our opponents, they have some strange ideas about raising taxes. To them, raising taxes -- and Joe Biden said it again today -- raising taxes is about patriotism. To the rest of America, that's not patriotism. Raising taxes is about killing jobs, and hurting small businesses, and making things worse." - Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Warm Up Questions 1. Do you think the government should help banks or large corporations that are on the verge of bankruptcy? 2. Do you think economic problems benefit Barack Obama or John McCain in the presidential race? 3. Do you think taxes will go up because of the current banking and stock market crisis? Why or why not? Discussion Questions 1. Why do you think both Republicans and Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are against recent government bailouts? Do you think they have the same reasons? What are the political and/or ideological reasons to be against the bailouts? 2. What do you think of Democrat Joe Biden's proposal to raise taxes on families making over $250,000? What do you think of Republican Sarah Palin's criticism? 3. Who makes $250,000? Do families in your neighborhood make that much? How do think people who make that much money feel about paying more taxes? 4. Republicans argue that many small businesses are counted as families making $250,000. Do some research on this issue. Is this a fair point? Why or why not? 5. Do you predict this economic crisis will get better or worse? How will it affect the election in November? Additional Resources Transcript of this report Who's who list of financial institutions in the news