Which big companies deserve the Fed's help?

The Federal Reserve has had a large role in determining which banks and brokerage firms stayed in business. Now it may have to make a similar set of decisions about big corporations.

According to Bloomberg, "Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke may find the next fronts of the financial crisis to be just as chilling as last month's downfall of Wall Street titans: its spread to corporate America and state and local government."

Large companies including Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) are having to pay huge premiums for debt or tap lines of credit. The Fed has the ability to lend cash to non-financial companies, but the dilemma raises the old question of which firms will make it and which will not. It is similar to the decisions it made with financial firms like Bear Stearns.

It is clear that there is not enough money to go around as hundreds of fairly sizable corporations cannot get loans. The Fed is unlikely to have the capital to help them all.

That means there will have to be some litmus test for who is helped like corporate revenue, number of employees, whether the company is in a strategic industry like defense, and so on.

Which would you save?

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.