One does not have to legalize stealing bread to forgive Valjean: one must only forgive the relatively small evil of stealing bread in order to avoid the greater evil of keeping a good man in a position of perpetual fear.
There is a lot to forgive, it must be said: Myriad coincidences, a ridiculous helicopter scene, cops taking hip-shots throughout the hallways of the Roosevelt Hotel.
For the government's rescue funds to work, the banks must use them either to forgive some of their loans or to force the borrowers into bankruptcy, thus freeing up resources that could be put to better use.