Well, let's be honest with ourselves here... the banks and Wall Street DESERVE punishment. They have been practicing 'casino economics' for years, resulting in both the 'net bubble bust and the housing bubble bust after it. It is largely thanks to their risk-taking at the expense of others that we're in the situation we're in.
But let's also be honest... the time for that 'punishment' has come and gone and said goodbye. The punishment they deserved should have been the one real capitalism would have given them - to fail. To fail, and to fail badly. Instead, the government decided it was okay to acquire a considerable part of the economy, never mind the fact that it more or less killed our claim to being a capitalist nation. AIG, anyone? Not to mention all the other bailouts and government buyouts, all of which were done without the consent of the American people (or even its representatives).
No, 'punishing' Wall Street and the banks now would be like spanking a dog a day after it bit your hand. A day late, and you've been feeding it doggy treats and letting it come inside out of the cold weather in the meantime.
"A wise and frugal government,
which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement,
and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned -
this is the sum of good government."
~Thomas Jefferson
