Morning Brief: Time to panic?

Top Story Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images If Ben Bernanke and George W. Bush intended to restore confidence in the U.S. economy yesterday, they failed miserably. "A sense of economic gloom gripped Washington on Tuesday," Steven R. Weisman of the New York Times writes. "An Economy Thrown in Turmoil" reads the screaming headline on the Washington Post this morning. "This is no ordinary economic crisis, and it won't be over anytime soon," USA Today's David J. Lynch warns. In a grim assessment, Bernanke acknowledged that the risks to U.S. economic growth are "skewed to the downside," and even an upbeat Bush admitted that "we're going through a tough time." Bernanke returns to Capitol Hill today. Meanwhile, bank shares took another beating Tuesday, and Wachovia joined the list of troubled regional banks to watch. Decision '08 Barack... [read full story]