These people on Wall Street are business people, so I assume they know what a business proposition is.
They apparently have the resources. Just ONE of the firms involved (BlackRock, owned by Merrill Lynch, now owned by Bank of America) was valued at $1.3 trillion.
One firm as an example, out of dozens.
Now, if we had a time machine we could go back to January, head to Bear Sterns and say "you! Pay us $700 billion or we guarantee you'll go under". But they'd tell us to f*** off anyway.
So the next best thing? Spread it around.
Here's my business proposition.
WALL STREET: you broke it? You pay for it. Details below the fold.
We know your worth (you release annual reports telling your investors that amount).
We have added those amounts together, and divided the total into the required amount.
It's x percent (someone will have to plug the actual number in for me).
Pay x percent now, and you become guaranteed under the US Government.
Don't pay x percent now, you're on your own. Investors may decide to sell their shares in your company to buy shares in a company that opted for protection. It is, after all, a free market and the invisible hand will work as it does.
The past few weeks have shown that the markets pick up when investors think there's a lifeboat. And the markets drop when they're not so sure anymore.
If you comply: you are subject to oversight, but are guaranteed by the power of the US Government, so long as you remain in compliance.
If you do not comply: any losses incurred, you incur. Any profits made, you keep. As it has always been. If you prosper, you were meant to survive on your own. And if you go under, you were never meant to survive on your own.
So: give and be protected. Or don't pay and take your chances.
You have until close of business Friday to choose.