An amusing analogy to the bailout.



A party begins in somebody's back yard. It is quiet at first, nothing
out of the ordinary.

But as the night wears on, the music gets louder, the voices get more
boisterous, and things begin to get a little out of hand. The neighbors
can't sleep, and one calls the police, but nobody comes.

The party gets louder, more out-of-control. A second neighbor calls the
police. Again, nothing happens.

The party kicks into high gear. Drunks wander into backyards and urinate
on the neighbors' houses. A window is smashed. A fence is torn down.
Neighbors call the police with lists of specific offenses, but are told
the party-goers are all consenting adults, and the police have no reason
to believe illegal drugs are being consumed.

In short, the policeman says, the partyers can handle themselves.

Suddenly, above the music and drunken singing comes a hysterical scream.
A neighbor investigates and finds a fight has broken out, and somebody
has been killed. The party-goers are in a stupor. They can't agree on
what to do.

911 is called and police cars come screeching to the scene of the crime.
They discharge dozens of serious-looking cops who surround the premises,
shine their flashlights in the faces of drunk and retching party-goers,
count the empty liquor bottles strewn across the yard and throw towels
over dazed, naked couples.

After carefully sizing up the situation, the officers make their move:
they tell the drunks, "We'll pay for the damages."

And they arrest the neighbors...

Such is the U.S. Government's bailout package for the Wall Street firms.

Boy, what a deal! I wonder if I can get that kind of deal on my next wild party!