Did they really, though? "Have to be" bailed out I mean. They were bailed out, yes, but... just as a thought experiment... perhaps we should have let them go under?

Edit:

Going bankrupt implies either mismanagement, failure to lower cost and increase margins, or the market does not value their service.

If it is the first two, going bankrupt will potentially allow them to sell off their assets to new management who might do a better job. If it is the last one, then they should be shut down.

All the government bailing them out does is prop up bad management and artificially lower prices at the expense of the tax payer having to pay them on the other end. (me paying for half empty train cars even though I haven't ridden a train in years)

Often they weren't bailed out; often their shareholders lost everything or very nearly. Nationalization was more akin to the government picking up the assets in a bankruptcy auction.

So no, it's not a straw man. Some conservatives really do believe this.

Weak man vs. straw man.

https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/05/12/weak-men-are-superweap...

A handful of extremists are not representative.

AFR were extremists a couple years ago, sure, but the Overton Window recently shifted. You may have noticed.

Here's an example of actual government waste. The ACA provides subsidies for low-deductible health insurance. Those plans are less efficient than high-deductible plans because the plans cost more (to the government and the patient), and because the act of laundering the cost of routine care through an insurance company causes healthcare costs to increase because insurance companies are less price sensitive than patients.

The government does this out of regulatory capture. Health insurance companies don't want people using less expensive plans and health provider companies don't want patients to be price sensitive.

Do you disagree with that? If so we can have a discussion. There is no discussion to be had about whether there should be public roads.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_Trust_Fund

* https://taxfoundation.org/gasoline-taxes-and-tolls-pay-only-...