1) Your numbers are comparing the current recession to the Great Depression, not to other recessions
2) Not sure where you are getting the 1.7% in economic decline as they just released fourth quarter 2008 numbers which showed over 6% decline (which would make the total decline for 2008 roughly 3.5%)
3) When you see unemployment rate almost double... that is hardly moderate
4) Recessions are NOT measured by the number of bank failures
5) Yes, the money supply increase does cause concern for future inflation, but part of the reason we slipped into the Great Depression was a restriction of the money supply. They need to be ready to tighten supply quickly once the economy picks back up.
6) We have yet to see if the credit card market is going to snowball into yet another bubble bursting.
7) All that said, firms like Lehman, Indy Bank and Bear Stearns certainly appear to be victims of bear raids. Thanks in large part to the stupidity of removing the uptick rule and the lack of enforcement by the SEC on naked shorts. (you might find this site interesting...
http://www.deepcapture.com/)