Thoughts on the Bail Out

It seems the whole world has been waiting with bated breath for the Congressional decision about the Wall Street bail-out. I too, despite my general disdain/lack of interest in politics (they're going to take my money no matter what party they're with), kept an eye on the iGoogle news feed. Since I know very little about the economy (I never had to take Economics), I'm not sure what to think about all of this. But here are some of the thoughts spinning around my head.

-If a CEO gets the job 17 days before the company goes under, he shouldn't get more than I make in 30 years. Just saying. Furthermore, why are CEO's still getting paid huge bucks when their patrons are finding themselves up the creek without a paddle?

-I'm generally a proponent of the government keeping its nose out of private business, but it seems like in this situation, the well being of certain private institutions translates into the well being of the American financial system. Perhaps doing something isn't such a bad idea after all. But every time I think about the whole CEO thing, it frosts me. Shouldn't there be some kind of condition in the bill that requires those billionaire CEO's to cough up a little dough? Can't the government hold them responsible for the failure of their companies? They hold everyone else responsible for bad driving by instituting fines, can't they do something similar for sucking at running a Fortune 500 Company? Instead of capping the salary, why not institute some kind of aid scale? For every yacht they sell, they get a million dollars from the government.

-Finally, I hate election years. Everyone is so bent on getting their man in office that they can't behave like adults. It's stupid.