…the bailout is likely to prove controversial, because it effectively puts taxpayer money at risk while protecting bad investments made by A.I.G. and other institutions it does business with.

In other words: socialism for the rich! Because, you know, they need a lot more money than regular folks!

Arthur Silber, one of my favorite doom-sayers on teh Internets, puts it more colorfully:

The economy of the United States is disintegrating in the same way a vampire does when exposed to sunlight, and for the same reason. Having sucked the blood out of all the living creatures unfortunate enough to be nearby, the vampire becomes intoxicated with what he perceives as his own power. Heedless of the warnings screamed at him from the few sane voices that remain, the vampire frolics and gambols long past the appointed time for his return to the soil of reality, so drunk is he on the glory of his being. The sun has been slowly rising for quite a while. Anyone who is looking can see it. Anyone who knows the relevant facts is fully aware of what will happen when the sun’s rays strike the vampire. But almost no one is looking at the sun, and anyone who states the relevant facts is ignored.

I know I say this almost every day, but, really: read the whole thing!