With the passage of the Bush administration’s requested $700 billion bailout of the financial sector, there seems to no longer be any opposition within government to the interventions policies of the American state.

The mainstream media has greeted the $700 billion package with almost near universal acclaim. Putting aside the question of whether the bailout will be effective, what is missing from the debate is the question of personal responsibility. With freedom must come responsibility.

Wall Street was reckless in its trading and re-trading of risk, all of them underpinned by mortgages. And now Wall Street should pay for its mistakes otherwise Wall Street will fail to learn any lessons if the costs of undue risk is not fully appreciated. If the government bails out-as it’s doing-these firms they will not understand the consequences of their actions and take action to not repeat the same mistakes in the future.

The only lesson learned with the bailout is that worst come to worst government will come to the rescue so there is no need to be too cautious. The argument for the bailout states that the market needs it or instead it will continue to sink. True, but the market will hit a bottom at where new buyers will then be enticed with the low prices and thus bringing the market up again.

The choose is between a limited government, more freedom, and short-term economic pain for more long-term growth or more government, less freedom, with the likelihood of long-term stagnation. Regrettable the American Congress has made a bargain for the latter.

What Wall Street needs is a strong dose of the free market accountability it always preaches during good times and what America needs is a new dose of limited government, personal responsibility and freedom. They only people who need a bailout are members of Congress and the Bush administration who need to be bailed out of their “Big Government” activism.