I may have run with the heard and supported the Bush bail out at the time it was advanced. Now I realize it was a mistake. All subsequent bail outs have been a mistake.
There are many problems with these bail-outs, not the least of which is that they do not work. Also, there is confusion. When we give money to a firm or a person, it is their money. That’s what it means to give. They can do with it as they please. If the government wants them to take a specific action, especially one that is contrary to their interests, the government should prepare a contract.
The banks would probably like a contract also. Their story is that the government told them to buy failed institutions (wink-wink, nod-nod) with the public cover story that the banks would use the money to make loans. The banks followed the directions they were given in private. They bought failed institutions to consolidate the industry (operation Darwin). Then the government publicly slammed the banks for not using the money to make loans. This is a double-dealing administration that can’t even be trusted when they cheat.
We should pull our money out of the banks. I now have my money in a credit union-safer. The FDIC is almost insolvent at this point. Maybe this would teach the banks to care about their American customers.