How far should government go in bailing out the banks?

[kentuck]

As I recall, it took over $500 billion to bail out the S&L's during the Bush Sr years. Is there such a thing as "too big to fail"? Bank of America, Countrywide, Citicorp, and many others have serious financial difficulties, mostly brought about by their own decisions. Should they have to pay the price or should we bail them out? If they were small businesses, they woud be permitted to go under in our capitalistic system. It's just a matter of time before we are faced with this question.

[Angela Shelley]

1. I love this thread, and it´s only just begun!

[tekisui]

2. Corporate Welfare----Good.

Corporate Bailout---Good.
Corporate Tax Breaks----Good.

Screw the People.

[Sam Ervin jret]

3. maybe they could ask their friends in the oil company for help? They seem to be doing ok.

Just don't come to us. We're tapped out due to your fu@%ing 20-32% credit cards. Why don't we talk about renegotiating those rates?
FOR ALL

[fasttense]

4. I say give the thieves Nada, Nothing, Zilch

Bunch of con men got together to swindle the middle class while the gubermint cheered. They deserve no bailout, unfortunately the Fed is bailing them out as we speak.

The interest rate cuts are not reducing the mortgage interest the middle class has to pay. Yet banks and swindlers get to borrow at 3.5% and loan out at well above that. Not to mention they give you crap for interest on your savings. The banks make enough money they don't need any more handouts.

[Javaman]

10. I agree. Kick them off the boat. Then make the restrictions on

establishing new ones very difficult and regulate the living hell out of them.

[Turbineguy]

5. A bailout

should carry some stiff regulations with it. Banks have a had a free ride for too long. For example, what if Banks were responsible to make good on bad checks without being able to charge nice fat fees. How would that change their business model? Or they would not be able to issue credit cards with limits not connected in any way to the ability of people to pay them off?

Given the reserve requirements there is still plenty of money to be made. I am not against banks making pots of money, I am just against the business model that rewards them for allowing (and encouraging) their customers to get into trouble.

The banks are in trouble because they allowed themselves (and were allowed under the regulations) to write bad loans. I mean, who cooked up the idea of the so-called "liar loan"?

I always advice bankers the following: "If you don't think I'll pay off the loan, don't lend me the money!!!" They are always surprised by this because it is a tenent they seem to have forgotten.

[MNDemNY]

6. About as far as I can toss my Chase branch.

[msongs]

7. help depositors yes, corporate structures and management? noooo way nt

[Narkos]

8. We should bail them out....

and make it clear that from now on, WE WILL REGULATE THE SHIT OUT OF THEM! And those tax cuts...yeah, we'll let those expire. We will send a message to corporate America that we will tolerate their greed, but they can no longer fuck with our economy and our lives by taking huge risks anymore. And one more thing...we need to get the message out that THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE MARKET!!! When bailing these people out, our lawmaker should make it absolutely clear that this is CORPORATE WELFARE, and that laissez faire is fairy tale that is literally killing us. We need to seize this moment to show once and for all how bankrupt this free market ideology really is. :mad:

[GliderGuider]

9. Isn't it your money that's evaporating?

It's not just "the banks" that are going to feel the pain. Bailing out "the banks" is the same as bailing out the depositors, as long as you prosecute any executives that broke the law.

I see two problems with that approach, though. First, I don't think many actual laws were broken. But the big problem is that there isn't enough money in the world to bail everyone out of this mess. They're trying to hide it by running the presses till they smoke (hence the discontinuation of M3 reporting), but that just creates a different kind of pain.