This economy is in free fall. Workers are losing jobs. Families are losing homes. Manufacturing is plummeting; exports declining; housing collapsing; construction on hold; state and local budgets slashed; retail stores and malls going belly up.

When the economy catches a cold, the poor suffer pneumonia. When the economy catches pneumonia, as this one has, poor people are reduced to emergency conditions.

Unemployment is rising. Many families are tightening their belts. This year, we're told, may be one of the worst Christmas holidays for retail stores in decades.

When Republicans blocked the bridge loan sought by the auto companies last week, they opened up basic questions about what kind of America will emerge from the current crisis. The severity of the downturn means that fundamental issues are at stake. Here are two of them:

General Motors and Chrysler verge on bankruptcy. Literally millions of jobs across America -- auto workers, parts makers, dealers, suppliers -- are at risk. Bankruptcy would be a body blow to an economy that is already in trouble. Yet, Congress and the president are making political points rather than making sense.