Inexplicable

Via Atrios, this story:

The banks orchestrating a bailout of troubled investment vehicles that were hit by the subprime mortgage crisis are throwing in the towel after struggling to raise money for the planned fund, according to people familiar with the matter.

A fund to bail out this mess is not going to “succeed” if its only raising money from the folks who are currently holding the mess. None of the big boys needs to be part of the fund if they are willing to pony enough to pay for their own mistakes, and nobody who wasn’t involved in making or buying these lousy loans is going to step forward voluntarily. So the only place the money can come from is the government.

I assume (and hope) the Treasury Secretary isn’t a moron. So why would the Treasury Department go through with this charade if it isn’t yet willing to start handing out your money and mine to some wealth individuals?

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Update… Noni Mausa sends a link to this cartoon.