It seems like the hands opening up for the free government money, aka the bailout, are increasing faster than our unemployment numbers. Now the insurance companies are lining up for their Christmas gifts:

Several insurers, including Hartford Financial Services Group and Genworth Financial Inc., made last-minute bids for billions of dollars in government money Friday.

Hartford Financial said that it agreed to buy a small savings and loan, helping the giant insurer apply for a government investment of up to $3.4 billion.

Don’t you like that trick? Want government money? Buy a troubled banking company. Welcome to the economy George built. We throw true business standards out the window and instead redistribute the wealth from the bottom up.