Oracle of Omaha Sees Poetic Justice + Monoline Bailout Offer

[sniglet]

Wasn't this offer just a joke to begin with? Nobody took it seriously, right?

What kind of deal is it to basically offer to help out another business by taking away all their profits and customers (i.e. the only business the monolines have left is bond/muni insurance)? That's like going to a restauranteur and saying, "I would be happy to take those lunch customers off your hands, who are just crowding your premises, if you just send them over to my deli."

How does that help? No business would ever even consider such a deal, and if it got to a point where they had to (e.g. the food inspector was citing them for violations), then they'd may as well just close the doors altogether.