The Fed is facilitating a possible bailout of Bear Sterns, accepting mortgage based securities as collateral for loan, and doing whatever it can to prop up those great pillars of capitalism, the big banks.
If Fed wants to do that and the banks, despite their free market rhetoric, are willing to accept billions of dollars of aid, that's fine.
But let's call a spade a spade and recognize that these are now govt supported organizations, and on top of the loans, expect at least partial ownership from each and every banks that comes asking.
Sure the taxpayers of this great nation will keep you afloat, prevent job loss and further market chaos, but in return for saving your ass, the tax payers own part of you, heck in some cases, we should own the whole thing. And in a few years, we'll sell it off in an IPO and makes a bunch of money for Social Security or Health Care or (or a new war depending on who's in power at the time). This is not unheard of. Plenty of countries have nationalized companies and if the banks are going to expect the taxpayers to bail them out every time they make a bad investment, then let's be honest about who it is that actually owns them.
Any bank exec who squeals in horror at having to give some equity in return for help stay afloat can kiss my Fannie Mae