Bailout money goes toward bank bonuses

As further proof of the foolhardiness of these bank bailouts, it appears that Merrill Lynch execs were paid nearly $4 billion in bonuses just days before new Lynch owner Bank of America got another $20 billion in TARP funds. See a story here.

And, these bonuses were paid out a month ahead of schedule. Does anyone smell rotten fish?

What kind of capitalism is this?

With another $20 billion infusion into Bank of America, the U.S. government now becomes that bank's largest shareholder.

A number of years ago, I thought about writing a book about a new type of serfdom, wherein Americans - up to or over their eyeballs in debt - basically became serfs to the economic system. Because you owed your house mortgage, your car payment, your food bill, etc., to the credit givers, you basically were at their service. You toiled your whole life just to get by, and in the end you never really owned anything but a pile of mortgage receipts.

Now, if I were to write the book, the credit giver would essentially be the U.S. government. Think about it, the more banks that go under, the more that the government holds our debts. Sort of gives a new meaning to the term debtor's prison.