The collapse got a temporary reprieve:

Bear Stearns Cos., teetering on the brink of collapse from a lack of cash, got emergency funding from the Federal Reserve and JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the largest government bailout of a U.S. securities firm.

After denying earlier this week that access to capital was at risk, Bear Stearns Chief Executive Officer Alan Schwartz said today that the 85-year-old company’s cash position had “significantly deteriorated” in the past 24 hours. The central bank agreed to provide financing through JPMorgan for up to 28 days, the bank said in a statement today.

I wonder where the right wing outcry is on this? When Congress talks about helping people facing foreclosure, the wingers get their panties in a bunch. “No government handouts” echoes through that side of the political spectrum. When the feds do the same for a corporation, they are mum. Just another case of the right wing motto of America; “A country by the corporations for the corporations”.