Sorry dumb question. What obligates the U.S. government to "bail out" any private corporation?

[begin_within]

I guess I'm just dumb or something, but when did that become a function of the U.S. government?

[RB TexLa]

1. It's not and they shouldn't

[AvaMae]

26. What obligates....

Because its never just the one business... its all the subsidiaries, the thousands unemployed, the
bazillions of creditors to all thos employees that won't get paid, the foreclosures, the bankruptcies, the vacant properties, the half of towns shut down.

[RB TexLa]

27. The companies that were well managed through whatever caused a failed company to

fail will buy up what they want from the failed one. These bailouts reward failure and prevent rewarding success.

[BlooInBloo]

2. In a perfect world, the overall interests of the American people.

[Captain Hilts]

3. They're trying to avoid an economic Domino Effect. nt

[angstlessk]

7. no, if they wanted to avoid a domino effect they could have worked from the bottom

to attempt to stem the effects of forclosure...I will bet more than I earn yearly...that most of this bail out has less to do with mortgages?

[valerief]

4. When the govt is owned by corporations. When it's a fascist govt.

[Cronus Protagonist]

11. Ding! Ding! Ding! - that's exactly right

That's how you know you live under fascism - the government and business grease each other's palms with silver, YOUR silver, and they live off the sweat of YOUR brow.

[Gore1FL]

5. It comes down to a choice of two bad options

1> Bail out the company

or worse

2> put thousands out of work and make the market crashes of the past week look like a kiddie coaster at an amusement park.

[Solly Mack]

6. ::::insert something snarky about free markets here::::

[angstlessk]

12. you mean if you merge enough times..you become TOO BIG TO FAIL??

and the FUCKING SMALL TAXPAYER BAILS OUT THE RICHEST FUCKERS ON EARTH???

[Solly Mack]

14. That'll work

and I'm hoping people have others

I'm just too fed up at the moment to make an effort at expressing my outrage

[jpgray]

8. When the corporation is a monopoly and contains too much wealth in too many interests

Now, should any corporation be allowed to reach that point? That's a pertinent question.

[wtmusic]

19. Exactly - free enterprise is not the issue here.

The issue is the trampling underfoot of the Sherman and Hatch Acts by the economic neocons of the sixties, otherwise known as the Chicago School.

[RB TexLa]

28. What did AIG or any recently failed companies have a monopoly on?

[rurallib]

9. I wonder if I declared myself a corporation

And spent like a drunken moose hunter if the government would bail me out?
Thom Hartmann has often referred to an additional amendment that Jefferson wanted to add to the bill of rights that would severely restrict corporations. Too bad, huh?

[bowens43]

10. Nothing. nt

[DJ13]

13. I dont mind the bailouts as long as

.....any financial institution getting the money has to operate under new regulations to prevent another recurrence, and theres a complete change in the executives, with no bonuses for the outgoing crooks.

[sam sarrha]

15. campaign contributions...

[napi21]

16. Before today, I was totally against they doing it too, but tonight

I listened to the CNBC interview of Bill Clinton. Maria Barteromo asked him if he though it was a good idea to bail out those co's. (There's a video of this interview up on DU). He effectively said they had no choice because to have let them fall would have destroyed everyone's 401K, the RE market, people's housing prices, AND the stock market! It wasn't done to save those companies, it was done to save the future of the American people.

I've given it a lot of thought since then, and I think Bill is right. For most of us, we only have 2 real assets in our lives...our house & our 401K or pension fund. To destroy either or both would destroy the Country & all it's people!

[Union Thug]

17. There is no obligation. And "we the people" should just let the whole

damned thing collapse as the final indictment of "unregulated markets."

And in a just world every goddamned corporate croney and wall street criminal whose fingers dipped into to this mess should be tried and stoned in the public square.

Instead, these guys are going to go on living their lives of luxury, while we the people are told we can't afford health care, or education, or retirement benefits...

[datasuspect]

18. financial incest based on peer relationships with good contacts.

the right familial, social, fraternal, or other connections help. rarefied places where this social class enjoys recreation are ripe environments for deal making among our owners.

[spartan61]

20. And what about the airlines?

All of them, with the exception of Southwest, are losing millions of dollars every quarter. Will the gov't bail them out, too? If all the airlines in the US go under, what happens? They not only transport passengers, but mail, cargo, etc. There would be thousands and thousands of people losing jobs in this sector too. I say regulate, not only the banks, but the airlines, too. They were regulated once and should be again. Of course the fares would go up and there wouldn't be competition, but the airlines wouldn't nickle and dime you on every trip, so you probably would be spending the same amount for a flight by not having to pay for each checked bag, each pillow and blanket, every snack, etc. Not to mention the airlines outsourcing their maintenance. How safe does that make you feel?

[Puregonzo1188]

21. Campaign Contributions

[spanone]

22. the final raping of the coffers

[Greyhound]

23. Nothing. Because of the implications of just letting them fail, we (the government) should

step in and seize them if their function or size is essential so that day to day operations continue and any resulting proceeds from sales of product or assets be returned to the government to repay tax expenditures first, salaries and benefits next, then creditors, and finally shareholders.

I also think it is feasible to at least freeze any executive benefits that are being paid out and strip all "golden parachutes" for non-performance.

[dbonds]

24. Friends and Buddies.

Or inbred family connection, or secret college organizations.

[Beregond2]

25. The obligation to prevent a full-blown depression.