With the economic crisis laying siege to virtually every corner of the National economy, the Treasury’s $700 billion (TARP) credit market bailout to selected commercial banks is thus far proving to be a holding action and not much more. The measures taken have bought time (how much is difficult to say), in addition to providing some potential insulation against further asset deterioration and loan portfolio problems that may emerge on the other side of an historically dismal holiday retail market. To date and by almost any measure, TARP has not engendered noticeable additional credit availability.