Cutting out the middle man

The Fed has announced that it will begin buying billions of dollars in short term commercial paper. It seems to me that if the money market is too scared to lend then having the Fed fill that gap is the proper solution because it potentially solves a few of issues at once. First, companies can get access to short term credit, which is not readily available right now, to meet payrolls and purchase inventory. Second, the cost of this debt to the borrowers will be much lower than that which is commercially available. Third, the government can inject a bit of stability and liquidity in the markets without reckless endangering taxpayer money or lining the pockets of the Wall Street jackasses that got us into this mess.

Now, smarter people than me can find reasons why this is a bad idea I am sure, but this make sense or at least more so than giving the bankers a ton of free cash.