In a further sign of the deterioration of society, the wealthy (or formerly wealthy) believe they are entitled to be bailed out for their losses. The victims of the Madoff and Stanford scams are appealing to Congress for a bailout. Bloomberg reports: Together, the groups hope to persuade Congress to add a requirement to the regulatory overhaul bill, now under Senate consideration, that brokerage firms pay about $4 billion in additional fees to the Securities Investor Protection Corp. fund. SIPC protects U.S. investors' accounts against fraud or bankruptcy. The victims also want Congress to require the fund to compensate them up to $500,000 each in losses. We all should have sympathy for the victims of these two Ponzi schemes. After all, their lives have been adversely affected, in some instances irreparably. However, to believe that the rest of the country has an obligation to make them whole is a bit outrageous. The lobbying initiative "gives new meaning to the word...(Read Full Post)