Anyone who thought the approval by Congress and the White House last week of a $700 billion bailout plan that was supposed to save Wall Street and Main Street would be provide a magic cure to the nation’s economic woes came to a rude awakening Monday morning.

Almost as soon as the U.S. markets opened, stocks began to tumble. By noon the Dow had fallen below 10,000 for the first time in four years. It was, as one financial analyst told the Associated Press, “a psychologically important moment ... The fact is people are scared.”

He was talking about the financial class, but they aren’t alone. It’s a scary time for just about everyone, thanks to the fact that even if you don’t play the market your retirement and savings, as well as your ability to buy a house or a car or just about any big ticket item, is tied to the ups and downs on Wall Street.

Add to that the fact that real wages are down, unemployment is on the rise and the housing market that precipitated the crisis — and needs to recover to resolve it — remains dismal and you’ve got a situation that all but demands the Joe Sixpacks of America embrace pessimism.

Proponents of the bailout, chiefly the Bush administration and congressional leaders of both parties, said it was the only option to save the American economy from a financial apocalypse.

Both candidates for the White House went along, inoculating each other from facing questions about the wisdom of the solution on the campaign trail.

The only cover for lawmakers who voted for the hugely unpopular measure were the dire warnings of the nation’s political and financial elites and anecdotal tales of businesses withering without easy access to credit.

That wasn’t enough for U.S. Reps. Phil English, Erie, R-3rd District, and Jason Altmire, Wexford, D-4th District. The pair, who represent Mercer County voters, are both facing re-election challenges in an area where the bailout is largely viewed as benefiting big business at the taxpayers’ expense.

We’re inclined to that view as well and remain wary of a plan that essentially rewards failure and provides the kind of assistance to corporations that would never be extended to individuals who had made similar mistakes in their personal finances.

If the bailout works, and that’s a big “if,” the best we can hope for is a stretch of hard times for the average American that’s not so bad or so long.