It's becoming increasingly evident that banks are in sore need of even more assistance. While $700 billion sounds like a lot--not to mention all those special Fed facilities--it seems like a lot less in the context of the coming loan losses. It's fair to say credit losses at the consumer level have not yet peaked.

The New York Times reports the poor economy will result in "another $500 billion to $750 billion of losses in coming months. That could bring total losses from the credit crisis to $1.5 trillion to $1.8 trillion, twice as high as earlier estimates." But you also have to wonder how much more taxpayers can shoulder. The returns on all those TARP investments seem very far in the future. Regarding a bank like Citi, you have to wonder if taxpayers will realize any gains ever.

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