My view is that temporary, limited gov't ownership is a good way to punish irresponsibily run businesses, such as the banks or auto makers. Instead of a bailout, call it an "investment" and force the company to accept the gov't holding a 25% equity position and seats on the board. When well defined, objective benchmarks of financial health are satisfactorily met after 3-5 years, the gov't would be obligated to sell its shares to investors, returning the company back to private hands. In other words, the price of a federal "bailout" should be that the company has to deal with pain-in-the-ass gov't bureaucrats helping run the company for say 3-5 years...

I'd like to see all the CEO's out there having nightmares about the same people who run the post office and the IRS coming into their firms to "help" them run the business for a few years. If that prospect doesn't scare them straight and encourage more responsible corporate management and planning then I'm not sure what would...