Concept, Unclear on the.

From today's White House press conference:

THE PRESIDENT: Government action -- if you're talking about bailing out -- if your question is, should the government bail out private enterprise, the answer is, no, it shouldn't. And by the way, the decisions on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- I hear some say "bailout" -- I don't think it's a bailout. The shareholders still own the company.

Um....yes. Exactly. They (the private shareholders) still own the company. So it is a bailout.

If it weren't a bailout, if it were, say, a 'buyout', the government would have bought all their shares. Or, if the government did nothing, then quite possibly the companies would have been unable to borrow, which would have meant their collapse, and the shareholders would have worthless shares.

The fact that the private shareholders still own the company, but the federal government is signing up to support them, is what makes it a bailout!

Sheesh.