Shut up. Just shut the hell up. You have literally NO CLUE what the hell you are talking about. And yet you spout off anyway. Your envy of people who have actually achieved *success* in their lives, has blinded you to the NEED for the financial rescue package that our ELECTED representatives (we are a democracy, remember?) worked overtime to pass.
It was NOT about bailout of rich bankers, who -- if you're interested in the truth -- have NOT come out of this unscathed. They have gotten fired, seen their firms go down in flames, or seen their pay reduced SIGNFIGANTLY. It's not a case of someone having to "move into a smaller mansion" as you put it. And I totally resent your framing of it as a "bailout". It was a financial rescue and liquidity provision package, NOT a bailout. And it bailed YOU out, as I will explain in terms simple enough for you to understand.
Here's why we did the rescue: A bunch of banks packaged mortgage products together under a very elegant (and beautiful imho) design that nicely divvied up the risk and reward based on the unique, individual needs of various parties. At the same time, they have their own debts to pay off. At any given moment, however, their money isn't in cash: it's in complicated financial instruments.
But no problem, right? They just sell the instruments for the quick spending money to pay off the debts. Oops -- now, because of BASELESS fears, no one wants to buy the instruments at their FAIR market price, so now they're insolvent.
Does that make any sense to you? Going into bankruptcy just because you have to unload assets at fire sale prices, WELL below what they are TRULY worth? No one should have to deal with that. That's why the Treasury's plan was to simply step in, pay the FAIR market price, that no one else is willing to, so they can keep the credit system from freezing up.
And as Paulson explained, it worked. We averted a major crisis, in which people wouldn't have been able to take out loans for mortgages, cars, consumer credit products, and even PAYROLL.
Yes, it was that bad.
So please, shut your damn mouth and stick to a topic you actually understand -- like computers. And please leave the finance system to the professionals.