As the old saw goes, a banker is someone who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining and then wants it back as soon as the first drops of rain fall.

The bailing out of these two boutique, politically fashionable institutions by the “wokest” of woke presidents is for the benefit of the well-to-do; most of the tens of billions of dollars in deposits exceed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) $250,000 ceiling. Would a bank in deep trouble in, say, Roberts County in the Texas panhandle, where the median average family income is $50,400, have received such exceptional treatment from Uncle Sam?

And don’t swallow Treasury Secretary and former Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen’s claims that the “bank fees”-funded rescues will leave no taxpayers on the hook. Like any other business, banks ultimately pass the taxes and fees imposed upon them by the government down to their customers, whether it happens individually or collectively, conspicuously or in hidden manner. As Fordham University law school professor and bank bailout expert Richard Squire points out, while management at SVB and Signature may be being allowed to save face, “the venture capital firms and the startups are being bailed out. There is no doubt about that.”

The Biden administration’s nearly $5 trillion in spending is the engine behind the inflation that forced the Federal Reserve to embark on an extended policy of raising the interest rates under its direct control—which in turn has put the squeeze on banks, especially those conducting fast and loose financial practices. But as scary as that chain reaction may be, the FDIC’s guarantee to reimburse all the rich uninsured depositors at the two failed institutions, making an exception to its $250,000 cap, and no matter how big the depositors’ accounts, is more alarming.

Such measures take the United States down a road toward total nationalization of the banking system and removes the indispensable elements of accountability and discipline all businesses need: certainty that misjudgment and irresponsibility must come with a cost.

When Washington bails that out, America turns into Potterville.