So, did any of you happen to catch today's news story that JP Morgan Chase bought out the troubled invesment bank Bear Stearns? (If not, check it out: money.cnn.com/2008/03/16/...ns/index.htm And did you know that we, the American taxpayer, kicked in $30 billion--yes, $30 billion--on this deal? So basically, the US government kicked in $30 billion on a private deal between (allegedly) public, non-governmental firms engaged in a "business" transaction, which came about because one of the businesses involved gambled itself into a shithole while its shareholders looked the other way.

And on top of that wonderful news, earlier last week, the US govt, "pumped $200 billion into the market by allowing big bond dealers to offer as collateral certain hard-to-trade mortgage-backed securities for cash." (That was taken from a CNN article on Friday the 14th.) Translation: the government propped up the value (by $200 Bill!!!) of some really shitty securities, which were worthless because of the crap mortgages they're backed by.

You know what, you guys? This isn't capitalism. This is a really fucking expensive game of pretend that I wasn't asked if I wanted to participate in. Our financial markets are in utter shambles and the government (i.e., we the people) is paying a LOT of money to make it seem like they're not. Is that how you want the government to spend your money? (And, as an interesting aside, how does the Fed just have $230 Bill lying around, anyway?)

Does anyone care? Bueller? Bueller?