Of course, it didn’t help that new Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner very much disappointed investors by giving virtually no specifics as to how the Obama administration plans to rescue the failing financial services industry, nor did the president’s scheme to rescue homeowners.

With this in mind, considering how stock and real estate values continue to plummet despite all the money being thrown at the problem by Democrats and three lone “Republicans,” maybe something radical should be tried…like putting more cash into people’s wallets.

For the same amount of money the just-enacted stimulus bill will cost when interest expense is added, you could give all Americans, including companies, a six-month tax holiday.

Democrats dismiss such thoughts, for they believe John Q. Public would take the extra few hundred dollars in his paycheck every two weeks and just save it or pay off some debt.

This would probably be the case with the first check. Maybe even the second. But by check number three or four, after some bills had been paid off, and the savings account massaged a tad, the desire to head to the mall would become too great.

After all, John is an American, and Americans like to spend almost as much as their elected officials do.

To address the current housing crisis and the growing inventory of homes on the market, let’s permanently eliminate the capital gains tax on residential property purchased in 2009.

The present tax code gives each individual a $250,000 exemption on the sale of a primary residence twice every five years. What this means is that if you and your spouse bought a home for $200,000 10 years ago, you could sell it today for $700,000 and not owe any taxes.

To really jumpstart the real estate market, let’s make this exemption unlimited not just for the gain in value, but also for the number of properties.

How quickly would all the houses currently available on the market be gobbled up if investors knew they would never be taxed on the gain, and they only had this year to take advantage of such an opportunity?

Probably just a few months, right?

This would act to immediately stabilize home prices, thereby improving appraisals and making it easier for folks currently underwater in their mortgages to refinance them. At the same time, banks would become more aggressive with their lending practices which would also lead to some new construction…ergo jobs!

Maybe most important, the end of declining home values would make Americans feel much more comfortable about their long-term finances, thereby increasing their willingness to — wait for it! — spend money.

Sounds too simple, doesn’t it?

Sadly, this plan would never be considered by the Left, for if Americans ever received six months worth of paychecks without any taxes taken out there would be a nationwide revolt the moment anybody tried reducing their income again.

At that point, there would be no longer be such a thing as Democrats.

Noel Sheppard is associate editor of the Media Research Center’s NewsBusters.org.