To use a tired old phrase, it’s the principle of the matter, as well as the real economic realities we’re all facing, that’s making it so tough to get behind this $700 billion bailout.

The Wall Street tycoons that spend billions each year lobbying against regulation of their industry would now like taxpayers to participate in the largest financial intervention in this country’s history.

Most of us are quite sure that these same investment bankers would not be coming to our rescue if the small companies that employ us were to go belly up tomorrow. If we were to lose our jobs, there would be no federal bailout. And, forget a golden parachute; we’d be lucky to get a parachute at all.

The problem is that a future without this giant federal bailout seems incredibly uncertain. People are, for the first time, uttering not just the word “recession,” but “depression.”

It’s hard to know where the hype ends and the reality begins. Everyone seems to have an opinion. Every time we turn on the television or radio, another economist, financial consultant or lawmaker is offering up a different piece of advice.

One thing is for certain: The news Monday was positively frightening. As the House failed to pass the plan that the president and congressional leaders had been assuring us was coming, Wall Street reacted with an historic drop of 778 points. This came after federal bailouts of Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and AIG.

Despite the bleak news, the sun rose Tuesday morning, our local banks opened on time and the stock market seemed to be on the rebound. Most financial planners are urging investors, many of whom have their retirement savings on the line, to remain calm and wait for the market to improve.

While we share the optimistic outlook, we’re getting used to the idea that what was unthinkable last week might be all too real this week – one of the largest financial institutions on Wall Street, Lehman Brothers, going bankrupt. For our money, we urge lawmakers to do what the rest of us are loathe to do – bail out Wall Street, without too much more delay.

It will require setting aside whatever fears members of Congress might have about a backlash from the public a month before a national election, and it will demand Congress makes sure the bailout package includes whatever safeguards are necessary to ensure Wall Street executives are not trusted with our money the way we trusted them with theirs.

Whatever it takes, it needs to get done. Main Street is waiting.

Brendan Moran, editor