When you have a big loss in the marketplace, there are only three people that can take the loss — the bondholders, the shareholders and the government. That’s the dance we’re seeing right now. Are we going to shove this loss into the hands of the taxpayers?

—William Seidman, who led the RTC from 1989 to 1991.

…nonetheless…

“Enough is enough. It is time to bail out the American taxpayer from bailout mania….refrain from conducting any additional government-financed bailouts for large financial firms….These massive federal bailouts have exposed taxpayers to literally tens of billions of dollars of new risk…moral hazard where companies are absolved, not punished, for excessive risk taking

—Jeb Henserling, The Republican Study Committee