United States of Bailers:

A new doctorine under which we the people, solmnly agree to form a government of the people, by the people, and for the few wealthy people who need to be bailed out once in a while.  We further agree that if luck has not showered on us tremendous riches, we the poor will bail those wealthy corporations and individuals because we will remain fearful of job losses and something sinister and very bad, if we fail to do that.  We thank almighty that such generousity comes natually to us since we do not have significant net assets to make us fearless of catastrophic challenges resulting from the failure of rich people or their companies.

So help me God.

When I was growing up in India, a regularly observable event has left an indellible mark on me.  There stood, near my home a usually quiet temple frequented by the devotees.  Every once in a while, a generous devotee will emerge and would be handing out as "blessed by God" goodies - usually items of food and sometimes clothes. These were devotees way of sharing whatever they could afford with those poorest people who could not afford much in life.

As a child, I noticed that when the frenzy of such handouts was at its peak, many people wearing nice clothes and appearing much better off will also make a dash to collect those alms. It showed that a temporary swallowing of pride can lead to some quick gains.

As we shower our goodies on people/firms who have no means left, through TARP 2008 version 1.0, I wonder how many well to do CEO's have advisors developing powerpoint slides that will make a compelling case for them to become elligible for handouts under this TARP 2008 version 1.0.

There may be some CEOs who are not working hard to gain benefits under TARP 2008 version 1.0.  And, if there are some of those, I wonder if they aren't delinquent for not acting in the best interest of the shareholders.