For anyone that’s a fan of Family Guy, you know that there’s always that one joke that lasts just a little bit too long (intentionally, IMO)…

I can’t help but feel like the bailout is the joke on American taxpayers that’s lasting just a little bit too long. Perhaps it’s the endless stream of depressing stories about bailouts. This week, the story du jour is a potential auto bailout, hence this week’s title and special section. On to the best bailout blogging content from last week…

• Little old me has an op-ed in today’s print and online editions of the DC Examiner arguing that if McCain had opposed the bailout, he might have fundamentally altered its course and contents.
• Dr. Larry Hunter provides excellent commentary on sound money right here on BeyondBailouts.
• CEI’s John Berlau urges the protection of property rights in mortgage modifications.
• Russell Roberts at Cafe Hayek gives us an ingenious haiku about Fannie and Freddie.
• The Club for Growth points us to a great letter from SC Governor Mark Sanford opposing the bailout.
• The Baseline Scenario talks about how the government is overpaying for assets through TARP.
• Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution links to Gordon Tullock, who says that even the impossibly large sum of $700 billion appears to be dwindling rapidly.
• Greg Mankiw, with a characteristically smart post positing a new plan for recapitalization.
• Ed Morrissey at HotAir points us to some inspired cartoon blogging about the White House ATM.
• Richard Lorenc from the Illinois Policy Institute gives us the sage words of one Wanda Sykes.
• Don Boudreaux from Cafe Hayek brings us George Will’s wisdom on bailouts and politics.
• Arnold Kling from EconLog drops some knowledge on credit default swaps.

I’d also like to make special note of the work going on at the blog BailoutSleuth, a terrific site dedicated to unearthing all the dirty details of the bailout.

• On the rising cost of the bailout.
• On the scramble for eligibility.
• On the fact that no troubled assets will be bought with the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
• And finally, on some of the specific transactions you may not have heard about in the news.

And how about a special auto bailout section?…

• Me again, over at NTU’s blog Government Bytes, with NTU’s letter opposing an auto bailout and some thoughts on the real cause of trouble for the Big 3.
• Megan McArdle from the Atlantic writes about why an auto bailout is a terrible idea.
• McArdle again, this time brilliantly confronting the “Save the Rust Belt!” argument on auto bailouts.
• David Boaz from Cato@Liberty about some scathing reviews of a potential auto bailout.
• Ed from HotAir, this time giving us a rundown on the auto bailout. Bet you didn’t know the Big 3 were only worth a combined $7 billion!

And as usual, some of the best newspaper/magazine articles…

• The New York Times covers the swarm of lobbyists now forming around bailout money, like flies to…uhh, casserole.
• Gerald O’Driscoll with a great piece in the Wall Street Journal on restraining the Fed.
• Russell Roberts over at NPR.org with great commentary on the role of uncertainty in our current crisis due to unsteady leadership from Treasury.
• Forbes Magazine counts the bailout total over $5 TRILLION.