It may be time to decide just how badly you want U.S. deficit counters to stay where they are.  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson have asked the government to provide financial institutions $700 billion in rescue money without delay. According to Bernanke, we're more or less screwed if a bailout doesn't occur.  "I believe if the credit markets are not functioning, that jobs will be lost, the unemployment rate will rise, more houses will be foreclosed ...