Here is an interesting article.  Many folks focus on the need to punish the Wall Street folks that created the fancy financial "products" and took home fat bonuses.  That urge to punish has deep psychological human roots.

The public urge for punishment that helped delay the passage of Washington’s economic rescue plan is more than a simple case of Wall Street loathing, according to scientists who study the psychology of forgiveness and retaliation. The fury is based in instincts that have had a protective and often stabilizing effect on communities throughout human history. Small, integrated groups in particular often contain members who will stand up and — often at significant risk to themselves — punish cheaters, liars and freeloaders.

But it can be a problem it it interferes with other productive solutions.

Some experts believe that Japan’s disastrous delay in bailing out its banks in the early 1990s was caused in part by a collective urge to punish corrupt bankers, and they fear a similar outcome today.

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written by Burl M FInkelstein , October 08, 2008

I have decided to take a hard line with all my elected officals on this issue. I will not vote to re-elect any that voted for the bailout. All of them I contaceted admitted that public sentiment ran as high as 9 to 1 against. Despite that they still listen to the "masters of the universe" that the sky is falling and they must indebit our children to fix it.

There is no good reason to increase our debit to the levels suggested, nor should we encorge continuation of this global ponzi scheme. Citizens need to take back government so it returns to governing for the common good.

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written by bob johns , October 08, 2008

Wall Street took what the government gave them - another part of human nature and perhaps excessive greed. If the public wants to vent it should do so at congress, the past two administrations and the Wall Street crowd. Not to be forgotten is the consumers who overstepped their financial capacity. Reminds me of the old Pogo wisdom about finding the enemy in this disaster. The shameful part of this is that organizations like CPA have been telling government this was coming for years and steps needed to be taken to orchestrate a soft landing. Those warnings and solutions were dismissed summarily. Says worlds about officials stuck in a failed ideology and their ability to see reality.

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