That's where we seem to be headed. Masters of capitalism, my ass. These folks are parasites. But you knew that already.

Via Calculated Risk, four insurance companies are seeking to buy thrifts so they will qualify for bailout money, Yes, that's right, they have money to buy thrifts, but we still need to bail them out.

American Express is now a bank. At least for bailout purposes. Not for regulatory purposes, I'm sure.

The Government is insuring debt issued by GE to the tune of $139 billion.

All of this comes after the recent bonus robbing of the Treasury bailout to help Goldman Sachs AIG. (I highly recommend both of these naked capitalism posts on the shenanigans of the AIG bailout.)

And let's not forget the bond insurers, which appear to include municipal bond insurers who were so very talented they managed to get themselves on the brink of failure in an industry built on collecting premiums for insurance that never had to pay any claims. And, of course, taxpayers will already be paying through the nose because of it even without a bailout.

Hard to believe, but with the USG buying everyone's bad debt* other folks are starting to get leery about buying the USG's debt. I don't know why, there is apparently no end to the money available to the US Government.**

* Except yours. Moral hazards for the little people, government bailouts for the rich.

** So long as the money isn't going to be used to pay for healthcare, unemployment benefits, infrastructure investments, or anything else that might result in a benefit to the lower, working, and middle class individual. Because we all know there isn't enough money to do that stuff.