Berkshire Hathaway's tough first half; Paulson wants to let failing firms fail in a nonthreatening way

Berkshire Hathaway hasn't had such a great first half of 2008, down nearly 20% since December, its worst first half performance since 1990, notes Bloomberg.

Hank Paulson wants regulatory changes that would let failing financial firms fail, while not threatening market stability.  Included in those changes would be steps to use taxpayers money to aid financial firms with the president's approval.