It's time to stop throwing taxpayer money into the hole that is the banking system. Instead, I propose that we send each US citizen a $3000 check. This would cost taxpayers approximately $1 trillion, and it could be done in addition to other stimulus packages such as infrastructure spending.
It might sound ridiculous, but there are in fact some very good reasons for it. First, right now we are experiencing significant deflation of every category of asset. Spreading this amount of cash among the people would immediately halt the deflation and return us to an inflationary environment. As you probably know, deflation is worse for the economy than moderate levels of inflation because borrowing and investment simply halt in deflationary environments. Additionally, inflation would ease debt burdens by reducing the real value of debts.
Second, this would represent a redistribution of wealth from the wealthy to the less wealthy. This is true because the wealthiest people pay the largest share of taxes (sensibly), and the funding for the per-person check would be coming out of present and future general revenues. The money would then be distributed evenly among all citizens. One of the most critical problems in our society is the lopsided distribution of wealth, and this would help at least a little.
Third, now is an awesome time for the government to get into more debt. Long-term treasury bond yields are at all-time lows, meaning that the government can issue large amounts of debt now at a very low cost. Better yet, the government can pay the debt back in deflated currency in the future, generating a profit for taxpayers in the long-run.
Fourth, this would be extremely popular. Politically it's a great move--everyone loves the politicians who have just put a $3000 check in their pockets. People have loved similar stimulus packages in the past, and they would love this one too.
The only real danger is of inflation getting out of control, but right now deflation is much more of a problem. It's better to be too ambitious in preventing economic depression now--there will be time to ratchet back the stimulus later.