Public Funds for Private Gain

Having been recently in Spain, I can attest to the fact that the people there are up in arms about the government's decision to bail out Bankia, the private banking conglomerate, while making big cuts to the budget for health, education and social services. Now that the bailout has gone up from 10 to 23 billion euros, I suppose that the Spaniards' indignation, understandably, is going through the roof.

But, of course, Rajoy and his cronies are there precisely to watch out for the interests of that private sector that got into trouble for its reckless investment and lending practices. So, it's their "duty" to use public funds to help their friends recover from their greed and stupidity. Of course, taking their cue from the Americans, they have justified their actions with the "too big to fail" explanation.

You see, the market and free enterprise are only valid when there are profits; otherwise, Big Government should step in to correct the mistakes made by bankers or investment bankers.

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