Flikr,

I am a believer in capitalism, I think that free market capitalism is the best path to prosperity for all. I am not a supporter of a "too big to fail" policy. In fact occasional failure is necessary for capitalism to function efficiently. I thought it was wrong for our government to bail out the auto companies and banks, and I don't like the idea of government picking the winners and the losers in business. Evidently our current leadership feels differently.

You said "The men and women who artificially inflated the housing market with their "questionable" lending practices should be in prison, but instead, they got paid bonuses out of our tax dollars." and I ask you what men and women? And just how did they inflate the housing market with their lending practices? And did they really get paid bonuses of our tax dollars? Sure it's easy to get all riled up but I don't really think that things are quite that simple. At the time of the housing bubble many people wanted to participate and felt left out if they could not get a loan. Pressure was put on lenders to make loans that frankly never should have been made.

You also said "When the inevitable consequences of increasing our debt limit to keep their stocks healthy come around, won't we be forced to bail them out again?" To which I ask do you really believe that the debt limit is being raised to keep stock values up?
Well I don't. Stock values are up because of the Feds easy money policy. It was a conscious decision to force people into risk assets with the hope that this would help stimulate the economy. And yes it may very well end poorly, although I sincerely hope it does not.

And lastly you said, "As for the corporate role as benefactors to our society, beyond employing a lot of people and creating stock dividends for those willing (and able) to invest in Wall Street (both of which are, without question, meaningful contributions from the viewpoint of the beneficiaries), I don't see that they are doing much to benefit the majority of U.S. citizens. In fact, I see a lot more harm being done than good." I take issue with your saying that the majority of U.S. do not benefit from corporations, and that they do more harm than good. Every single person who has a job is a benefit to society and contributes to economy. Also while there are many people who do not directly invest in equity's themselves most people are indirectly invested in them either through their own pension plans or are affected because public employees pension funds are invested in equity's.