We're in Real Trouble

Suddenly, there is a new consensus that we are not in trouble and that there are better ways to get bad loans off the books. Suddenly, we have competing plans and professors who tell us not to hurry.

Suddenly, we are back on the complacency bandwagon. Suddenly, Eric Cantor from the great state of New Jersey has a plan that's "better" than Paulson's plan.

Suddenly, we are in even more trouble than I thought.

Tonight Washington Mutual (WM - commentary - Cramer's Take) failed. It failed. It went bust. We are using the FDIC as the de facto Resolution Mortgage Trust, and in one fell swoop, it is broke. Let JPMorgan Chase (JPM - commentary - Cramer's Take) buy all the deposits in bankruptcy. That will take care of the problem, right? Maybe there isn't even a problem, or one worth concentrating on.

These politicians don't care. Nor do the group of esteemed professors who said the plan is wrong.

Now it is beginning to dawn on me. When we were all growing up we learned about what caused the Great Depression and how it seemed so easy to stop, but they wouldn't do the right thing. They didn't understand the way things could go badly so quickly. They didn't understand the psychology of the moment and how it was undermining the whole nation.

Now I see how it happened. Well-meaning people urging us to take our time as the largest thrift goes under, the largest insurance company goes under, the largest broker succumbs to a takeover and the largest industrial company explains why it can still have a good credit rating while missing estimates and stopping the buyback.

I have been saying sell the rallies in case something screws up.

Something is screwing up big time. Just when we need the deal, now more than ever. Unless we have decided to heck with the deal, we are just going to let it all happen at once and see if anyone really gets hurt.

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Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. Outside contributing columnists for TheStreet.com and RealMoney.com, including Cramer, may, from time to time, write about stocks in which they have a position. In such cases, appropriate disclosure is made. To see his personal portfolio and find out what trades Cramer will make before he makes them, sign up for Action Alerts PLUS. Watch Cramer on "Mad Money" weeknights on CNBC. To order Cramer's newest book -- "Jim Cramer's Stay Mad for Life: Get Rich, Stay Rich (Make Your Kids Even Richer)," click here. Click here to order "Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich," click here to order "Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World," click here to get "You Got Screwed!" and click here for Cramer's autobiography, "Confessions of a Street Addict." While he cannot provide personalized investment advice or recommendations, he appreciates your feedback and invites you to send comments by clicking here.

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