Shares of large U.S. life insurance companies surged Wednesday following news they may receive aid from the government’s $700 billion financial industry rescue program. But the Treasury Department said only life insurers that own banks or saving and loans qualify for assistance, and that no new programs for the industry were being considered.

The bailout fund approved by Congress last year, known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, was intended to help banks weather the credit crunch, though it has also been used to make loans to auto companies and insurance giant American International Group Inc.

Life insurers have $5.1 trillion in assets and are major players in the credit markets, said Frank Keating, president of the American Council of Life Insurers. The companies own 18 percent of all corporate bonds so aiding them is consistent with the bailout program’s goal of unclogging credit markets, he said.

Insurers have been under pressure to maintain solid capital positions to avoid damaging downgrades by ratings agencies. Keeping high ratings is key for insurers because lower ratings can mean higher costs or a loss of business.  (sound of squealing tires……is that not the way it is suppose to work in a “free market”?)

Where does all this end?  Where does the taxpayer money stop?  What will it take for the money to be diverted to the people on Main Street?  Does this mean that any company that has a holding of a corporate bank bond can get TARP funds to keep it from failing?  Where does this madness end?  At least the investors are jerking off at the prospect of the infusion of taxpayer money…the taxpayer, ah, yes, the new Wall Street cash cow…..