Comment by next_xibalba

With respect, I think this is a naive opinion. The banks that were bailed out were systemically important. This would not have been normal bankruptcies, with a very real risk of plunging the U.S. into a depression as bad as or worse than the Great Depression. So, the objective was to prevent that. And in order to keep these institutions in good working order by retaining the key employees who operated the institutions, bonuses were approved. It was distasteful and there was significant public and legislator outrage.

And, once again, the taxpayer turned a tidy profit on the bailouts.