No, throw money at every American household and you won't solve the economic crisis. A few people would end up doing quite well, but many others would end up worse than they are now.

But that's also a good reason not to throw unearned money at people who have already run their mega-businesses into the ground.

Giving the same incompetent people more money to keep doing things the same way and expecting a different outcome — isn't that a definition of insanity?

It's no more insane than the idea that, rather than giving money to Americans, we should suck cash out of their homes and give it to some of the wealthiest Americans at the head of auto companies and unions.

Jay Evensen is editor of the Deseret News editorial page. E-mail: even@desnews.com. Visit his blog at www.deseretnews.com/blogs.