Reuters

Warren Buffett not only was in essence bailed out by the bailout but he also traded the bailout to seek "morally hazardous" profits. That's a somewhat disillusioned take from Rolfe Winkler of Reuters. (He also gets credit for the above graphic.)

Buffett, one of the most human-seeming of our oligarchs, got credit for bailing out Goldman Sachs with $5 billion last fall. The Omaha guru has wailed about government guarantees. But looky here, says Winkler in "Buffett's Betrayal": "Were it not for government bailouts, for which Buffett lobbied hard, many of his company's stock holdings would have been wiped out." He adds:

Winkler's piece is nice, and Joe Wiesenthal masticates it here, and Robert Wenzel here. See Buffett's February 2009 letter here.