By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Most Americans are all for raking the Big Three automakers over the coals for their past sins, while they demand a $34 billion bailout.

But Americans ought to be equally outraged by the hundreds of billions being quickly poured into U.S. financial institutions, with much less public scrutiny.

These handouts of taxpayer funds to American International Group, Citigroup, many banks and other financial institutions have not come with the same strings that are being attached to any bailout of U.S. automakers.

The car makers are agreeing to cut jobs, shed brand names, slash CEO pay, reduce some benefits for workers, make more hybrids and sell corporate jets, all in a desperate and very public attempt to get taxpayer funds to survive.

Yet U.S. treasury officials have been handing out billions to financial institutions with nothing close to the same kind of public discussion and scrutiny.

For instance, why aren't the CEOs of all the bailed out financial companies going to agree to work for $1 a year, as the chastened GM, Ford and Chrysler CEOs have agreed?

Why aren't workers for the financial institutions having to take pay and benefit cuts, as the United Auto Workers are agreeing to do in return for taxpayer help?

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and other financial wizards in Washington offer the patronizing explanation that most people simply don't understand what it will take to keep the wheels of the financial industry rolling.

In other words, the financial institutions are so badly messed up that anything less than throwing money at them would put the entire economy at risk.

Contrast that to the car industry, which everyone seems to have an opinion about.

The problems have been caused by greedy CEOs, greedy workers, companies that produced too many SUVs, not enough fuel-efficient vehicles, etc.

It's unclear whether the automakers will follow the financial institutions in getting bailed out by taxpayers. But the Big Three certainly are having to do a lot more work for the handout.