Accountability

I agree that given the current state of affairs, the government does not have the luxury of allowing these idiots to reap what they've sown. As Rich said, it would be nice, albeit a bit idealistic, to allow these chumps to fail, fold, and fade away, but the impact would likely be devastating.

However, there should be some accountability.

A stipulation of any bailout should be a thorough and independent investigation into the management of the given organization with the goal of getting rid of the chaff. Any executives that materially contributed to the company's failure should be fired- and NOT "fired with benefits". Just plain old fired. If you've made a series of decsions that resulted in the loss of billions upon billions of dollars, you should not walk away with millions in bonuses, severance, or retainers.

And while I don't think you can criminalize stupidity, I would argue that further steps should be taken. Some sort of remuneration perhaps, where previous bonuses are reinvested in the company. No human being needs a $20 million bank account, least of all a bloated CEO who did nothing to earn it while losing the infinitely smaller fortunes with which he was entrusted.

I can't help but look back to the government's bailout of Pan-Am back in the day, and its result on the airline industry. Little regulation, no price consistency, a STILL a lack of stability. I fear we didn't learn anything from that gross mistake.

At some point, we have to let the failures fail, bear the unpleasant consequences, and let the market self-correct. Until that opportunity presents itself, we should at the very least be holding those responsible as accountable as humanly possible.