The name of the game now is competing for a slice of the bailout. Insurers, automakers, securities dealers and banking types are all lining up for a slice of the action with the Financial Services Roundtable writing to Treasury officials requesting that the initiative to buy $250 billion in bank stock be extended to cover these worthy recipients. More on this from Associated Press and the New York Times.


This is just disgusting because it flies in the face of the risk and reward principles of capitalism and markets. And while the investment banks are holding their hand out for money, they are still paying $20 billion in bonuses. And they wonder why people are so furious? "I'm just flabbergasted that the financial community has failed to show any sense of leadership on this issue and doesn't seem to understand how angry people are at them. They are just a bonus away from having the villagers come after them with torches,'' Corporate Library editor Nell Minow told Bloomberg.

But back to the bailout. The fact that failed businesses are now competing for handouts highlights Wall Street's moral bankruptcy. US taxpayers are paying for mistakes perpetrated by a handful of companies that are not being held to account.

The Houston Chronicle's Loren Steffy summed it up well last month:

"This bailout has to be about more than money, more than just sopping up the swill that is choking the financial sector. It has to be about changing the rules. This crisis grew to such large proportions because of the financial instruments that allowed risk from mortgages and other debt to be borne by one party, while giving the rewards to another ... If the big banks want our help, we should demand stricter oversight, particularly of the unregulated derivatives markets. Our cash should come with a bright light. Otherwise, we'll just have more of the same: hundreds of billions of dollars passed in darkness. That's not a bailout, and it's not an investment. It's a gift."
br />And exactly the same applies to those lining up now.