STRATFOR analysts — well, those of us on Austin time — arrived at work Tuesday morning in time to hear brief speeches by the U.S. financial trio: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair. The government's three economic leaders were explaining changes to the government's financial and regulatory structure that are intended to deal with the ongoing financial crisis. The long and the short of it is this. The Treasury will spend $250 billion on purchasing direct shares in the country's banks. While technically this is voluntary, the nine biggest banks were informed that they were volunteering, in order to remove any stigma for signing on to a "bailout." Participating firms are directed to help homeowners avoid foreclosure and restart normal financial interactions with other banks.