One of the most interesting sidebars to the Bush administration's financial bailout plan is what I would call the Chicken Little Syndrome.

You know the story about Chicken Little? I'll refresh your memories: "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!"

The sky has been falling for the Bush administration in most of its two terms. And many Americans believed it.

Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? The sky is falling, the sky is falling.

A war in Iraq instead of chasing down the masterminds behind 9/11 Pakistan and Afghanistan? The sky is falling, the sky is falling.

So now here's Bush's Treasury secretary urging congressional passage of a near-$1 trillion financial package to stabilize the economy without providing much in the way of transparency. And it has to be hurried through Congress because, well, the sky is falling, the sky is falling.

Fact is, the financial sky may be falling. But having heard this tune before, many are not willing to believe it.

Wasn't it Ronald Reagan, GOP hero, who said, "Trust, but verify"?