Yup. The fed is risking a ton of moral hazard here to protect the banking system. Undoubtedly true -- a BS failure would be a disaster far outweighing the value of teaching a lesson to BS and its' shareholders that they have to pay the price for the risks that they took.

Just because that's true though, let's not ignore the fact that your and my tax dollars are going to fix a mess created by folks who got quite wealthy taking risks that put the financial system at risk in the first place. And it's NOT just the stockholders -- how much of the millions of bonuses for BS bankers came through in cash compensation and is now safe and sound in alternate investments? And, more to the point, how much would BS stock be worth WITHOUT the $30B (sorry -- $29B, you're right, a real sacrifice for BS) guarantee made on the back of your and my credit (or more accurately on the back of the value of the dollars in our pockets)? Thinking that $2 may have been a very lucky outcome.

Just because we have to put out the conflagration now, does NOT mean that the jackasses who sat around playing with matches deserve medals.