Today is "one of the most extraordinary days in Wall Street’s history" -- and not in a good way. Lehman Bros. and Merrill Lynch will be gone tomorrow.

Okay, this is what we got after eight years of George Bush. The economic news for the past couple weeks has been nothing short of stunning. This election is about the economy:

 Quote:
In one of the most extraordinary days in Wall Street’s history, Merrill Lynch is near an 11th-hour deal with Bank of America to avert a deepening financial crisis while another storied securities firm, Lehman Brothers, hurtled toward liquidation, according to people briefed on the deal.

The dramatic turn of events was prompted by the cataclysm of losses that has shaken the American financial industry over the last 14 months.

The moves came after a weekend of frantic negotiations between federal officials and Wall Street executives over how to avert a downward spiral in the markets. Questions still remain about how the market will react and whether other firms may still falter like A.I.G., the large insurer, and Washington Mutual, both of whose stocks fell precipitously last week.

Coming just a week after the government took control of mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the magnitude of the industry’s reshaping is staggering: two of the most powerful firms on Wall Street, Merrill Lynch and Lehman, will disappear.

The weekend’s once unthinkable outcome came after a series of emergency meetings at the Federal Reserve building in downtown Manhattan in which the fate of Lehman hung in the balance. In the meeting Federal Reserve officials and the leaders of major financial institutions were trying to complete a plan to rescue the stricken investment bank.


The collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was huge, but probably a little too far removed from people's day-to-day lives for them to understand. I felt that way -- I knew it was huge but couldn't quite get my arms around it.

The collapse of Lehman and Merrill Lynch is another story. Lots of Americans invested with Lehman and Merrill Lynch. Those firms are gone. How did this happen? No one was paying attention to the economy. There was a lack of regulation and oversight during the Bush presidency. The proverbial fox was guarding the hen house -- and took full advantage.

It is the economy, stupid. And, the Obama campaign should make every day between now and November 4th about the economy.