Oh, the government is paying for it. Technically. The problem is that this is one of the few times in history that the government has remembered that it's owned by the people so the people get to pay.

Big companies made bad choices involving putting mortgages on the stock market and such. Mortgage market fell through when people fucked around with it. Stock market is feeling the hit. Government is convinced it should bail them out "for the good of the country". Is it your good? Because is sure as hell isn't mine.