For CIT, the Buck Stops Here

I don't know if you heard, but we just let a major bank go belly-up.

We just said "see ya" to CIT. A major lender Washington deemed apparently an even bigger loser and not worth bailing out.

So we didn't.

We let CIT file for bankruptcy — that after giving them more than $2.3 billion to dig themselves out of their own hole. We put down the shovel, convinced that there's a process for this and a taxpayer rescue isn't part of that process. And for this lender to small and mid-size businesses, not part of our gotta-haves now.

So think about that now: We said no; the government said no. A year after rescuing seemingly every financial player, now saying sorry to a pretty big financial player.

And the markets didn't take. The world didn't quake. Capitalism didn't die. And life as we know it didn't stop.

Last year at this time we wouldn't have even considered being so tough. We were too busy writing checks so big. We panicked, so we paid.

And for every company that also panicked seeing others getting paid, we panicked and paid them too — just like we offered "cash for clunkers" and checks for homebuyers. Convinced if we didn't give them money, they wouldn't spend money. So everyone got used to getting money — threatening all hell if they didn't get money, forgetting the fact it was our money.

Until CIT came along and we said, you know something, no more money.

The buck stops here and your responsibility to make your own bed starts here.

I say: Hear-hear! Better late than never. Because CIT is bankrupt and the CIT truly has hit the fan. And what do you know: Life goes on.

— Watch Neil Cavuto weekdays at 4 p.m. ET on "Your World with Cavuto" and send your comments to cavuto@foxnews.com