American International Group (AIG) trimmed its tab to the American people by $25 billion on Tuesday. The insurance company, plagued by fallout from the financial crisis for more than a year, moved two subsidiaries -- American International Assurance and American Life Insurance -- into special units that are used to separate a business from its parent company. A spinoff or sale is the next logical step.

For now, AIG is holding on to the companies and giving the U.S. government preferred equity in the two life insurers. When AIG decides to send the companies public or divest via a private transaction, the feds (and taxpayers) will be able to cash in. Before becoming too optimistic, keep in mind that a timetable hasn't been set.

Citigroup (NYSE: C) and American International Group (NYSE: AIG) have already taken about $496 billion in U.S. cash and guarantees to keep them from failing. This makes me wonder: Is there no way to allow them to simply fail without causing the entire global financial system to collapse? And if not, is there a limit to how much more taxpayer money we pour into them before we say "no more"? The answers: Maybe and Yes.

Citi looks to be a basket case after $345 billion in taxpayer bailouts. It has already gotten $45 billion in cash -- $25 billion of which was recently converted from preferred to common -- and $301 billion in guarantees of its toxic assets. The U.S. now owns 36% of the common stock of Citi -- which lost $27.7 billion in 2008 and has a market capitalization -- Citi common shares times price per share -- of $8.2 billion.

It looks like America has shut down until 2009. And that's probably a good idea because there were so many bad ones in 2008. Bad ideas are like vampires. They charm their way into the good graces of a host society and then they suck the blood right out of them.

Although they all didn't just pop into our lives in 2008, these eight ideas reached a peak of awfulness in 2008:

• Deregulation is good. The wave of deregulation that started in the early 1980s has created enormous problems for society. Sure there were some bad regulations on the books, but just one deregulated industry -- the $62 trillion credit default swaps (CDS) market -- has cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars in the bailout of American International Group (NYSE: AIG).
• If you can lend against it, securitize it. Securitization -- the practice of buying, credit-rating, and bundling loans backed by assets like mortgages, credit card receivables, and leveraged buyout loans -- created the illusion that you could mix risky loans in with safer ones and you could earn above-average returns with no risk. Bad call -- securitization has spread toxic waste around the world from Iceland to Whitefish Bay, Wis.
• Home-ownership is good for everyone. The hungry maw of securitization created enormous demand for new mortgages. And that led mortgage originators to lend to people who couldn't afford to pay back the loans. The $1.3 trillion subprime mortgage market was born and it grew so big that its collapse refused to remain contained. In 2004 Bush bragged about home ownership reaching 69.2% -- three million foreclosures later it seems we should be careful what we wish for.
• Leverage up your balance sheet 30:1 or more. In 2004, the SEC gave financial institutions (FIs) discretion to borrow more money than they had ever borrowed before. Most banks and hedge funds borrowed as much as $35 for every $1 of equity. If they had used their $340 billion in equity to buy the $13 trillion worth of mortgage-backed securities (MBSs) and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), a 3% decline in the MBSs and CDOs value would have wiped out the FI's capital.

The banking system has been crumbling for over a year, but last month's collapse of American International Group (NYSE: AIG) -- which prompted an $85 billion government takeover -- suggests that insurance is not immune from the problems. As a reminder, AIG got snared in the $62 trillion Credit Default Swap (CDS) market whose growth was spurred by McCain advisor, Phil "Americans are Whiners" Gramm.

And as insurance crumbles, banks keep suffering. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and National City Corp. (NYSE: NCC) are both hurting. How much?

• Bank of America's earnings plunged 68% to $1.18 billion, or $0.15/share -- missing by 60% analysts' forecast of 62 cents. Bank of America will raise capital by selling $10 billion of common stock and slashing its dividend in half from 64 cents to 32 cents. One analyst cut the bank's 2009 earnings estimate to $2.50 per share from $3 per share -- this is well below the $3.12 per share from a Thomson Reuters analyst poll -- and lowered his price target by $2 to $26.

• National City Corp. and its National City Bank both suffered debt downgrades from Fitch. For instance, Fitch slashed the bank subsidiary's long and short-term Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) to A- from A. And it lowered the bank and holding company's Individual rating to C from B.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal's "Smartmoney Stock Screen" looks at eight companies whose valuations make them ripe to buy, and they also may be in the sites of corporate buyers. The big eight include Asbury Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: ABG), Crane Company (NYSE: CR), Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) and The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE: SMG).
• The Wall Street Journal's Walter Mossberg said in the "Personal Technology" column that he cannot recommend Apple Inc's (NASDAQ: AAPL) MobileMe, as it has "too many flaws to keep its promises".
• The Wall Street Journal also speculated that the collapse this week of SemGroup LP, which is the parent of SemGroup Energy Partners LP (NASDAQ: SGLP), may have played a role in the 14% drop in crude oil over the past 10 days.
• In a move that could take advantage of the gap in the financing markets, The Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) raised $10B to invest in loans backing leveraged buyouts. The fund will reportedly buy senior loans, the Financial Times reported.

• Former American International Group Inc (NYSE: AIG) chief Hank Greenberg is reportedly in settlement talks with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo over charges that Greenberg improperly inflated corporate books to show improved profits, the New York Post said.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The market for private mortgage insurance has narrowed and is tougher to obtain, further pressuring home buyers and affecting the market, the Wall Street Journal reported. "Clearly, the pendulum had swung a little too far in terms of flexibility in underwriting," said Len Sweeney, the chief risk officer at AIG United Guaranty, a part of American International Group Inc (NYSE: AIG).
• In a agreement with Viacom Inc (NYSE: VIA), Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) said it will remove visitor data from YouTube before it fulfills a judge's order to send data to Viacom, as a part of a larger copyright lawsuit, the Wall Street Journal reported.

• As part of its effort to emerge from bankruptcy protection, the Detroit News reported that Delphi Corp (OTC: DPHIQ) announced plans to sell its brake business. Delphi has retained W.Y. Campbell and Co to help sell the unit, which has around 1,000 employees worldwide.
• The New York Post learned that Dick Fuld, the CEO of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (NYSE: LEH), is seriously considering ways to take the company private. The Post said that talks centering on the privatization of Lehman have "gotten very serious consideration," according to sources, although details on how a maneuver may work remain unclear.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal's "The Game" column speculates that one of the results of the Bear Stearns crash could be the push of investment banks and commercial ones closer together, which could result in better handling of volatility with more stability. Some observers think Merrill Lynch & Co (NYSE: MER), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) or The Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) could go that route by buying a commercial bank. Any move would force them to adhere to better reserve ratios, affect short term bank funding, and shrink balance sheets.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) will soon make available a new service that measure hits on the Internet with the intent of helping advertisers decide where to buy ads online and would directly compete with comScore Inc (NASDAQ: SCOR) and Nielsen Online. Ad executives said Google's method could make targeting markets more efficient.
• A Manhattan judge dismissed four claims made by American International Group Inc (NYSE: AIG) in its fight to regain control of a block of its shares held by Starr International, a company that once founded a lucrative compensation plan for AIG executives. AIG believes the shares held by Starr should continue to be used to fund employee compensation, the Financial Times reported.

• According to Scorpio Partnership, Bloomberg reported that UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) and Merrill Lynch had slower growth in assets under management last year due to losses connected to the U.S. subprime crisis.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Investors are taking their money out of hedge funds more now that at any time over the past 10 years, according to the Wall Street Journal. Firms are bracing for the end of June when the next big wave will hit.
• First it was a demand for management changes, and now shareholders, including one time director Eli Broad and fund managers Shelby Davis of Davis Selected Advisors and Bill Miller of Legg Mason Inc (NYSE: LM), are again upset with American International Group Inc (NYSE: AIG) and want changes in the boardroom as well, the Wall Street Journal reported.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Citigroup Incorporated (NYSE: C) will close Old Lane Partners, a hedge fund co-founded by CEO Vikram Pandit.

• Spotlight Capital is increasing pressure on Chico's FAS Inc (NYSE: CHS) and said it has been in touch with 25 major shareholders in order to oust CEO Scott Edmonds and unseat board member John Burden, who are accused of having a conflict of interest, the New York Post reported.

• Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE: AMD) denied reports certain of its new dual-core chip, code-named Kuma, have been canceled, according to CNet. A spokesman for the company said that the launch of Kuma, scheduled for the second half of 2008, remains on track.