You Can Save Bear but You Can't Save Me?

David Wessel makes a great point in today's Wall Street Journal about how JPMorgan's government-assisted deal for Bear Stearns may have changed the political dynamics of a broader bailout for struggling homeowners:

No matter the merits or intellectual distinctions, it is nearly impossible for a politician to explain the following: Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson were willing to risk as much as $30 billion of taxpayer money—without congressional approval—so that J. P. Morgan Chase could buy Bear Stearns cheap at an auction in which it was the sole bidder. But a taxpayer-backed rescue of homeowners whose mortgages are worth more than their homes is unwise and unwarranted.

Full article is here.

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