That's right you heard me correctly: we, the taxpayers of the United States, should bail out AIG, WaMu, Lehman Brothers (if they weren't beyond repairing), and any other bank that now finds itself in deep financial trouble because of unregulated greed and reliance on "exotic financial instruments." I know this won't be a popular stance here at Daily Kos, but hear me out, my reasoning is sound and I'll give it below the jump.
Every single one of these companies deserves a second chance. These companies are vital to the proper functioning of our capitalist democracy. So we should lend them the money, whatever it takes, to make sure that they don't collapse, and we should lend it to them at 19% interest.
Think about it, they've been doing this for years to people who are a bad credit risk. Well, they have shown that they cannot be trusted to handle their financials in a responsible fashion. Instead of living within their means they took the exotic financial instrumental plastic out and spent well beyond their means. Drunk on what they believed was free money they spent on CEO salaries, lobbiests like Phil Gramm, and spent millions to buy they latest, shiny, new rider in a banking bill.
I heard last night that AIG was seeking upwards of a trillion dollars in backing to prop up its now almost worthless book, and I think they should get it--at 19% interest. Lessee, at 19% interest that's 190 billion, and let us be generous to our hapless massive financial institutions and only compound yearly. We could go a long way towards repairing our debt and hell even give back a tax rebate of approx 542 dollars for every person in the United States.
To summarize this is a great opportunity to both show we have some compassion for the banks, help them rebuild their credit, and make a reasonable income. So, I know it goes against Daily Koses grain to say it, but I'll say it again: Save the Massive Financial Institutions