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Released: November 26, 2008

Getting more bang for our bailout

Source: David Lazarus, Los Angeles Times (Free Registration)

Man, I'm getting tired of this. Once again we're bailing out another too-big-to-fail company -- now it's Citigroup -- and again we're acting like we've got these guys by their you-know-whats because we're imposing some limits on how much cash top execs get to pocket during the whole ugly ordeal. On top of that, the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve said Tuesday that they would be pumping $200 billion into the consumer credit market by guaranteeing securities backed by credit card debt and other loans, apparently with no strings attached. The idea is that this will encourage banks to make more money available to consumers. Enough already. All along, I've reluctantly accepted the need to prop up many of these hopelessly mismanaged companies because of the importance of protecting the overall economy. You have to put out the fire at the local crack house if that'll keep the rest of the neighborhood from being immolated.

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