[Christien]

Ok, I know this isn't PARF, so keep that in mind as I ask, what would you guys who are saying "too big to fail is too big" have said if the Reagan gov't stepped in years ago and said to GM 'you're getting to big, and we have to stop that'. Wouldn't that have been a complete slap in the face to the free market ideal?

I guess what I'm saying (and again, it's not PARF - I'm really trying to be as apolitically as possible, and certainly as bi-partisan as possible) is that the laissez-faire system created this monster, and now must deal with the consequences of that. You can't have it both ways. You either impose limitations and restrictions on size and market dominance, or you deal with the monstrosity that's allowed to grow in the absence of those limitations and restrictions.