Bailout

I hate the idea of a bailout for big financial companies.  These companies were well aware of the risks associated with their investments - assessing risk is an integral part of investing.   What if I go to Atlantic City and play a game where I have a 7% edge (without going into how I can accomplish this, which is information I'm not willing to share, it is sufficient here to say that it is possible) and I manage to lose $10K?  I wouldn't expect a government bailout.  

Put another way, if there was no risk in an investment for some people, shouldn't all people be granted that no risk?  We'd've certainly bought a house beyond our means (we were approved for a loan twice as large as the one we took, which is barely affordable).  

People need to take responsibility for their financial decisions.

To put in perspective how much $700 Billion dollars is, you could use that money to provide safe drinking water for every man, woman and child on this earth (a huge problem in underdeveloped nations).  And still have enough money left over to fund the immoral war in Iraq for 20 months.