"The details of the IMF and EU bailout of Ireland remain sketchy, but one thing is already clear: The Bazooka Theory of financial rescue does not work as advertised.

In July 2008 then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson explained why he needed the power and money to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: "If you have a bazooka in your pocket and people know it," he told Congress, "you probably won't have to use it." Congress gave him the bazooka, and Treasury is still reloading it to prop up the mortgage-finance giants.