If the government hadn't done that, there was a very real chance of the economy grinding to a halt, with mass layoffs resulting, which would have had a very, ve

If the government hadn't done that, there was a very real chance of the economy grinding to a halt, with mass layoffs resulting, which would have had a very, very large impact on poor people. So yes, in a way, it was a bailout of poor people. I think they should have done much more to break up the banks into smaller chunks in the aftermath, but I'm tired of this sort of lazy condemnation of what they did as some conspiracy to help rich people and not poor. They were trying to get the country through some very dire times.