According to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Bear Stearns was one of the disasters that qualified under his “they're too big to fail” criteria that we, the American taxpayers bailed out for $29 billion.

However, Bear Stearns was primarily a huge investment bank and investment banks help companies and governments raise money by issuing and selling securities in the capital markets as well as providing advice on transactions such as mergers and acquisitions.

They were not a traditional commercial bank that normally issued mortgages, so why did we bail them out?

Weren't they one of the “smart money” Wall Street movers and shakers?

Smart? Absolutely! Because they got bailed out when they shouldn't have.

Thanks, Henry.

But more importantly - how did America get into such a disastrous financial situation in the first place anyway?

We believe it was greatly amplified by the GW Bush Administration and their 'hands off' attitude that big business could best police itself and didn't need federal regulations.

Right!

We wound up instead with “excessive deregulation” and where “greed is good” was the overriding big business ethic - regulation - instead.

For example: No proof of income was required and if one had a 'pulse,' one could get a sub-prime mortgage which started this whole mess.

How can we not have a financial disaster, with such federally condoned loose lending practices?

Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, has now issued such rules as that no mortgages were to be issued unless one can prove that he or she could afford them.

How can such a basic law not be on the previous books if there was no collusion or corruption on the part of big business and the government?

Excessive deregulation and greed?

You bet your sub-prime mortgage it was.

And it still is because banks are still sending out credit cards to college students where “no minimum income is required” to qualify for one of those look alike recycled sub-prime loans.

And the beat goes on.

It's your money.

Bill Balyszak

Auburn