Too Big to Fail!

The Federal Reserve recently said the government is prepared to rescue any of the banks that underwent "stress tests" and were deemed vulnerable if the recession worsened sharply.The Fed has now said the 19 companies that hold one-half of the loans in the U.S. banking system won't be allowed to fail — even if they "fared poorly on the stress tests." That reinforces the Fed's view that major financial firms are "too big to fail," and that the government must do whatever is necessary to save them, said former Fed examiner Mark Williams.In extreme cases, a rescue could include a government-backed merger, similar to what regulators did in helping Bank of America to buy Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to buy Bear Stearns. Critics continue to say that policy has put taxpayer money at risk , and could lead to giving banks billions MORE in government bailouts and guarantees.The federal government has broken up companies before, through the antitrust laws. What ever happened to free markets, free enterprise and capitalism??!