The bailout backlash grows

Yes, he's a little nutty sometimes, but Senator Jim Bunning (R-Kentucky) often makes a good deal of sense when he talks about the Federal Reserve being a less-than-ideal solution to current problems, given their role in creating them.

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Apparently, he introduced legislation yesterday to prohibit the Fed from bailing out companies they do not regulate - that seems to make a good deal of sense.

Some highlights from the interview:

How much more chaos have the Fed Chairman and the Secretary of the Treasury brought to the market by what they have done? Who do they pick and choose? What's next? Chrysler, Ford, General Motors? They are all here with their hands out. United Airlines, Delta Airlines, US Airlines - they'll all be here with their hand out. This is not a free market we're in. This is France of 20 years ago.
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My God, the Federal Reserve is at the very core of the problem we're having because the 1994 bill that we passed gave them the responsibility on all mortgages, not just bank mortgages.

Elsewhere at Bloomberg, there's this:

Backlash Against Bailouts Grows on Capitol Hill, Wall Street
Amid calls for the government to take stronger measures to stabilize financial markets, some former Federal Reserve officials, lawmakers and Wall Street executives are saying too much has already been done.
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"If we don't stop now, there will be no end,'' said Gerald O'Driscoll, a former vice president of the Dallas Fed and now a scholar at the Cato Institute in Washington. He joins Vince Reinhart, former director of the Fed's monetary affairs division, and Marvin Goodfriend, a former official at the Richmond Fed in questioning the market interventions.

They're getting support from Republican lawmakers, who are stepping up their efforts to put a halt to further rescues. Yesterday a group of 100 lawmakers released a letter asking Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to "refrain from conducting any additional government-financed bailouts for large financial firms.''

Another day, another crisis. But, hey, stocks are up today.