They are shrewd survivors - onetime federal bureaucrats who oversaw the savings-and-loan bailout under then-President George H.W. Bush. Now, almost 20 years later, they are working for the other side, advising banks and private investors who are seeking to profit from the latest and greatest government bailout.

James H. Lambright, head of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S., has been tapped for a top job overseeing the $700-billion financial bailout.

Morgan Stanley’ CEO John J. Mack, dubbed “Mack the Knife,” appeared to have pulled a rabbit out of a hat this morning when he announced a deal with Mitsubishi UFJ for a $9-billion lifeline.

Who is Bill Perkins, and why he is spending hundreds of thousands on full-page ads in the New York Times decrying the $700-billion bailout?

When U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson chose former Allstate Chairman Edward M. Liddy to head American International Group Inc. after the government’s bailout of the insurance giant, he was turning to an old buddy he knew he could trust.

Kendrick R. Wilson III is a man with friends in high places. Beyond that, his resume includes graduation from Dartmouth College and Harvard Business School, plus work at Goldman Sachs.