Bailout Nation

The Chicago Tribune has this editorial:

In his 1971 best-seller "Boss," a profile of the late Richard J. Daley's mayoralty, Chicago columnist Mike Royko suggested we ditch the city's official motto, "Urbs in Horto"—"City in a Garden." His choice, based on the greed and graft that kept the Democratic machine in power: "Ubi Est Mea?"—"Where's Mine?"

Royko was remarkably ahead of his time. "Ubi Est Mea?" no longer fits only Chicago. It's the unofficial motto of Bailout Nation. That's our term for legions of bailout supplicants and lobbyists lining up to snag a slice of the rapidly depleting $700 billion federal bailout fund. First it was the financial industry. Now it's General Motors, which warns it could run out of cash in 2009 if the U.S. economic slump continues and it doesn't get government aid.

Still clamoring for help: people threatened with home foreclosure. Community banks. Car and boat financing companies. Big-city mayors. And, we hear, a horde of folks hoping to cash in—need a plumber? an electrician?—if the government buys sick mortgages and winds up owning foreclosed homes that need to be repaired for market. Whew.

No word yet on whether the Tribune Company is looking for bailout money.