"And they screwed up the whole thing," said Mease.

Now, Mease said, the government is taking on the role of a giant insurance company "and totally wiped out private and corporate wealth by putting an IOU on everything we own."

The crisis has begun to impact the stock prices of local banking companies, as well.

Susquehanna Bancshares, M&T Bank and Sovereign Bank were all downgraded by analysts.

Stifel Nicolaus Research downgraded Susquehanna Bancshares from "hold" to "sell" and M&T Bank from "buy" to "hold."

M&T Bank Corp. shares slumped Monday after Stifel, Nicolaus advised investors to take profits following sharp gains last week, The Associated Press reported.

Analyst Collyn Gilbert cut Buffalo, N.Y.-based M&T Bank to "hold" in a note to investors Monday. Gilbert downgraded M&T because the stock's sharp gains Thursday and Friday left it overpriced for a bank that still faces a difficult credit market, the analyst said.

Sovereign Bank was downgraded from "market perform" to "underperform."

Friedman, Billings, Ramsey downgraded Sovereign, citing concerns about the capital position of the second-largest U.S. savings and loan.

Analyst James Abbott cut his price target on Sovereign stock by $3 to $6, and lowered his estimate for company's 2008 earnings by a cent to 65 cents per share.