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So the fire sale of Bear Stearns is a problem but all the bad business decisions, lies and deception that necessitated it were ok? How about the senators spend some time beefing up the SEC so investors have protection from sham companies who misrepresent themselves.

People are mad because Chase made BANK while everyone else struggles in the mier.
The Fed doesn't call CitiCorp or Bank of America when they have a problem.
They call in the big guns, baby!
JPMorganChase
DrFill

This is a very strange "bailout". How can the US government agree to the bailout at $2 per share and then again at $10 per share. The taxpayer risk went up 500%! Did government exposure increase or not...that is a vitally important question.
I suspect your economy is in far worse shape than the average US citizen knows. This kind of bailout is the very last form of intervention that a free market system would ever countenance!

Better ask who's next too, Senators. If the Fed stands ready to bail out all those dumb bankers who are "too big to fail", it may end up being the only bank dumb enough to hold all that worthless paper. As Bill Maher said on Larry King, "who would have thought it was a bad idea to give mortgages to people with no money?"

The bailouts proposed shows just how far this country has gone from our past since from the founding fathers up until the creation of "social security" this nation believed in personal accountability and reliability. Now we have a country that believes in handouts and bailouts for all kinds of personal acts of stupidty. Maybe if we still taught people to be accountable for their own actions instead of always blaming someone else we wouldn't be in this mess that the government created.

Just more of the old Bush, old McCain, old Clinton style of doing politics as usual. Does this really surprise anyone?

This is all going a bit too fast and smoothly. Something stinks. A lot of corruption and theft is getting swept under the rug.

So, we do have a social safety net in this country after all - too bad it only catches billionaires! Remember the mantra of the right wing:

Socialize the Risk, Privatize the Profit.

Well, they won a big one here. Our taxpayer dollars were used to hand over a failed bunch of greedy creeps to another bunch of greedy creeps for a price that is equivalent to theft. Do you think we unwilling investors will see any upside from this sneaky "investment?" H-E-double-hockey-sticks, no! The risk is socialized and the profit is privatized. See how that works.

Will the morons in Congress even understand it once it's explained to them? I doubt it. They're really looking for a photo op or a fresh opportunity to extort campaign money from lobbyists.

why? they won't do anything since the Federal Reserve corruptly bailed them and Carlyle out. and then the Fed goes on to pump $200 billion to the banks. thanks for continuing to devalue the dollar. jerks.

It is appropriate to know what is done with taxpayer money. Any time that the government pays money out to a contractor, it would be nice to know what is really being bought with our money. There needs to be a way for the government to recover all the $30 Billion that we held out to help this. If it weren't as large or as well known as Bear Stearns, then it would be allowed to die.

Max please get the details so americans can see what went on. What

I wanted to know was why american people (especially us in Montana) could not buy stocks at $2.00 a share too! Maybe the common person would have liked an opportunity to make some money during the recession. American people are encouraged to build a portfolio but we can't get into the really good deals..??? was up with that.. Please help Max..

I'll bet you will not get anywere's if this administration made a behind closed doors deals..

No matter how bad it is..., it certainly can't be as corrupt as this Senate.

why is this going to help american people wolf love your show keep it up

America is just beginning to see the real "solid, sound, resiliant economy" little George was telling us about a few months ago.---- When the stimulus package was suddenly rushed thru Congress and the White House, this was a GIANT RED FLAG to anyone with any common sense that the economy was tanking. --– I guess the "Great Depression" was just a prolonged economic slowdown !!!!!!!!! -- We`re not there yet folks, but we`re on our way– Thirty years from now, we`ll be just like old Mexico.

Typical left wing media.

Gives credit for the democrat for looking into this, and not the Republican.

It's about time someone has tried to find out what's really going on! I'm surprised this is coming up now and it should have been looked at the day it happened!

Good for you Baucus...sounds like a back room deal to me with OUR tax money.

I for one am getting tired of us US taxpayers bailing out these wall street people. And this goverment will not do anything to help the people that really need it.

Take an already ugly picture and make it uglier... that's why the senators have a job.

I'd rather have transparency in billion-dollar deals than congressional hearings on steroid use amongst athletes. It's good to see something important happening in Congress.

While they're at it, they should reveiw the bailout schemes being proposed for sub-prime homeowners being touted by Clinton and Obama.

I see a huge burden getting ready to be placed on the backs of those American taxpayers is acted responsibly and lived within their means over the past 10 years.

Bear Sterns need to be shot, their CEO should be tarred and feathered for making such BAD financial decisions on mortgages, etc.

I mean come on, if this was an average american in trouble the government would NOT give a dam. The money used to bail out Bear and Sterns could be PUT to better use in the economy, like providing jobs and healthcare, etc.

Obama??? Does everyone know what his middle name is?? I think that middle name says it all!!!

Max Baucus is the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
i. e.., He's the head dummy that led the charge into our current economic mess.

And evidently, still clueless about today's finacial dealings..

As I stated five times in post yesterday that didnt make onto the blog, this is what you can expect with another Clinton presidency. Bill Clinton was largely responsible, for the bank deregulation that allowed this situation to baloon out of proportion. These policies have been continued by the curent administration. Atleast, the republicans have a track record for supporting the top down. There needs to be a complete overhaul of the banking system in this country.

Bear's investors lost millions. But the financial structure was secured with the help of government back loans.

This is the way the government should work. Save the structure, not the greedy prospecting investors or wannabe McMansion owners..

Who's get credit for the Bear Stern $ 30 Billion Dollar Earmark?

The sad part of this story is that President George Bush, has this I got mines and you get your's type attitude. The American people would like to know who's been getting the biggest capaign donation by Countrywide? as well as the other big mortgage companies. We need to have an investigation to find out who got paid at the homeowner expense.

We the People, need to restore honesty to our government. I will be pushing for an IRS and well as a GAA inquiry. That's likely to lead to investigation.

One would think this investigation would have been conducted prior to the bailout of Bear Sterns. Is it being done now because CEOs of Bear Sterns walked away again with millions which is normal practice of failed corporations. If the Federal Reserve backed this sell with tax payers dollars fully aware of CEOs pay out something very fishy is going on here.

One year high: $156?; two weeks before crash: $76?; initial takeover bid: $2; re-offer: $10.

Something smells and someone has to unwind what is going on. What we see on the surface is murky. How bad is this subprime crisis, REALLY? And, what role did those 'betting' on the direction the securitization of these loans exacerbate this problem? Where's the accountablity and who should pay for it? Was this criminal or merely an anomoly that someone was trying to exploit and got burned? How do we keep it from happening again? Do the characters that set this in motion just morph into another firm or are there to be consequences? People are losing their equity and their homes... The Public deserves answers. This is a role government has and must conduct a thurough investigation.

Full tank of gas: $85 dollars
2 Small bags of groceries: $75
Minimum monthly payment on my doctor bills: $250
Home heating cost: $200
Bankruptcy lawyer, because my job is now overseas: Priceless
Stimulous check: Worthless!
Maybe that 6 dollar an hour job that everyone will have in 4 yrs will allow me to buy a box to live in.

When the details of fed support for this deal do become public, it will add great credibility for Obama's mortage fund which will really deal with the crisis.

Why is it so easy for these money guys to get bailed out, but not us po' folk?

Gore/Obama '08

Voters and citizens want details of earmark and pork-barrel spending!

This Bear Sterns bailout is designed to hide from the public, how bad our economy really is. If Bear Sterns had gone under, there would have been more than a few investment firms that followed in it's path because they all invest in each other, and people would be running to the banks withdrawing their investments. Last time that happened was 1929.. Worse things are to come, and the mainstream press and politicians don't want you to realize it until it's too late....

Hmm...you think if we were not in a war that we couldn't afford that this would be a story?I agree that businesses must be held to a certain standard, but would we rather see our economy hit even worse when one of the larger financial institutions is forced to collapse?